


Thank You

by Fangirl_Alpacalypse



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Jisung is an idiot, Like really slow, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Rated Teen for maturer themes, Slow Burn, Tags to be added, but hes trying his best, dont be mad at him, main minsung, mentions of divorce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2020-12-01 22:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20912021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_Alpacalypse/pseuds/Fangirl_Alpacalypse
Summary: Thank you.It's a simple phrase most people use multiple times every day that has a universal meaning: I appreciate what you've done.The weight of that meaning could be insignificant. A small gesture like holding the door open for the person behind you.The weight of that meaning could be enormous. Holding more value than the words 'I love you'.Two words, just eight characters, that could mean nothing to one person and the world to another.-Or alternatively Jisung's first year of high school





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Thank You, my first fanfic here!
> 
> Before beginning I want to go over some details that aren't mentioned in the story.  
In this universe high school begins the first of March and anyone having a birthday from the start of March to the end of February will be in the same year (So basically Jeongin is with the 00s).
> 
> Also a reminder that everything written here is strictly fictional and the story only use Stray Kids members as a base for these characters. I am in no way implying any of the members go through the things stated in the story.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

"Thank you," she started nervously, "but I just don't see you that way."

The male student was speechless, in shock from the words that just came out of the girl's mouth. A few seconds that felt like hours passed by, waiting for the male student to do anything other than stare helplessly in the girl's direction. Eventually, fed up of waiting, she spoke up again,

"Sorry."

With that, she hastily ran off leaving the boy in his frozen state of bewilderment. 

Han Jisung was a seventeen year old first year at high school who had just been rejected by his first high school crush. The crush in question isn’t important, she only needs to be remembered as the girl who Jisung fell for in just a month of attending high school. They weren’t even in the same class, he had merely been a secret admirer until Jisung’s best friend had convinced him to confess.

It had been minutes since the girl had left and Jisung had finally snapped out of his trance, finally processing what happened.

“Well, shit,” Jisung cussed in a hushed voice, not quite knowing what else to say in this situation. Sure the crush was just that, a crush, but it didn’t make the feeling of being rejected any easier. Jisung wasn’t quite sure what he expected to happen, he didn’t know if the girl was already in a relationship. In all honesty he didn’t even know her name, as already mentioned he was just an admirer, so he couldn’t really blame her for rejecting him.

He’s not even sure how his friend had given him enough confidence to confess his feelings in the first place. What had he done? Where did he get this sudden burst of confidence from? How could he have thought anything good would’ve happened? What if word spreads around the school that he was rejected? Would he even be able to come to school without hanging his head in shame? What was he supposed to do if that was the case?

As these questions continued to swirl around in his head getting louder and louder, Jisung’s breathing grew heavier and quicker until he was hyperventilating. His knees buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor, curling up into a ball. It didn’t take long for his hands to be clawing desperately at his milk chocolate coloured hair in all directions, causing it to look like a bird’s nest.

The bell rang for the next class, the sound drowned by Jisung’s own voice in his head belittling him, the paranoia of what could come from this situation overbearing any rationality he had.

Suddenly, there was a tap on Jisung’s shoulder. Light enough that it wouldn’t send Jisung into a further panic but firm enough to be noticeable despite his current state. Jisung looked up abruptly, his eyes full of accumulating tears threatening to fall.

In front of him stood another student, who looked a bit older than Jisung did. His floppy light brown bangs brushed over his sculptured face as he looked at Jisung with concern. 

When Jisung made eye contact with the boy, his look of concern turned into a gentle smile Silently, he took out a folded handkerchief from the pocket of his uniform’s blazer, handing it to Jisung which he cautiously took.

It took Jisung a couple minutes to get himself together, after coming to a realisation of the state he was in. His uniform was a mess. His hair was a mess. His face was a mess. He was a mess. Taking deep breaths he began to fix the things he could, forgetting the other boy was there until he finally spoke up.

“So where’s my thank you?” he questioned playfully, although his tone was soft. Flustered, Jisung realised how much student had helped him, not just the handkerchief but the fact he waited patiently until he calmed down before trying to talk to him but still staying with him to make sure he was okay on top of that. He opened his mouth to give him the expression of gratitude he had just asked for but the boy beat him to it, “Don’t worry, it was just a joke. Are you okay?”

“I am now,” Jisung replied weakly, able to give a forced laugh accompanied with a small smile, “Sorry you had to see that.”

“If you want to apologise to anyone, you should apologise to my handkerchief,” he countered gesturing to the wrinkled tear and snot filled piece of cloth Jisung had clenched in his hand.

“Oh, sor-”

“Just another joke, don’t take everything so seriously,” the boy interrupted, laughing slightly at Jisung’s panicked demeanor, “But I am being serious when I say I don’t want that back, you can keep it.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jisung agreed managing an actual chuckle and putting the handkerchief in his own pocket.

“So, uh- mind telling me your name?”

“Jisung.”

“Okay, Jisung. I’m Minho by the way,” Minho returned, the gentle smile from before reappearing on his face helping Jisung to relax even further, “Do you think you can stand?”

Upon the realisation that he was still crouched on the floor, Jisung shot up a little too quickly; he stumbled backwards and almost fell back onto the floor, gaining a stifled laugh from Minho. Jisung blushed slightly at the embarrassing action, scratching the back of his head after regaining his balance.

“If you hurry you can probably make it in time for the second half of fourth period,” Minho informed him after getting his laughter under control. Jisung was a little taken back at the lack of questions Minho was asking but grateful nonetheless; the last thing he needed was some stranger prying into his anxiety attacks no matter how attractive said stranger is (and in Jisung’s books Minho definitely scored a 10 on that scale).

“Sorry, you’re missing class because of me,” Jisung apologised, bringing his gaze back to the floor.

“Is sorry the only thing you can say?,” Minho replied jokingly, “It’s cool I was looking for an excuse to skip class anyway. Are you okay to head back on your own?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine now. I was just having a moment.” Jisung assured firmly. He was about to thank Minho for what he’d done but he’d already started walking away knowing that Jisung was okay.

“Be careful then. Bye Jisung!” Minho called out, turning and walking backwards as he spoke before looking back in the direction he was going.

Jisung just watched as he walked away, his figure finally disappearing as he turned a corner, presumably to where his classroom was. Before he went back he wanted a couple minutes to prepare himself for what may come, hoping not to be scolded too badly by the teacher and, more importantly, his best friend for missing the first half of class.

-

The school day had come to an end and it was time for what was usually Jisung’s favourite time of the day: walking home with his best friend, Jeongin. 

Yang Jeongin had been friends with Jisung for years now. Miraculously, they always ended up in the same class and it wasn’t any different when they entered high school, the only difference this year being Jeongin was their class representative. Although they weren’t sure exactly how their friendship had begun, now they were practically inseparable.

The reason Jisung enjoyed walking home with his friend so much was because it was a time when there was no obligations, no judging, no other people: the two could chat about whatever they wanted like they were the only two in the world.

Unfortunately, today he wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable conversation that was going to happen.

“So how did it go?” Jeongin asked curiously after the two had exited the building and were already walking along the path in the direction of their houses, “And how could you skip class!”

“Don’t start, I already had an earful from the teacher when I came back,” Jisung sighed, feeling drained from the day. He knew Jeongin was straight-forward, and of course he would have wondered about what happened, but he thought he’d have a little more time to mentally prepare. “I was rejected, as expected.”

“Oh… I’m sorry Jisungie,” Jeongin hung his head slightly at the news, averting his gaze away from Jisung’s. It wasn’t until Jisung gave him a playful punch on his shoulder that he looked back up.

“Hey, what are you apologising for? It’s not like it was your fault, the result was natural,” Jisung reassured him, trying to sound as unbothered about what had happened as possible.

“But if I hadn’t convinced you the hope of something actually happening would still be there,” the younger argued.

“It’s better this way. I can focus on other things, like my adorable best friend!” With those words Jisung pulled Jeongin into a comically exaggerated hug. Half to cheer up his best friend and half for himself, Jisung knew he was forcing himself right now. Usually Jeongin would make some remark about how Jisung was too clingy but he understood Jisung and knew it’d be best to keep his silence just for this time.

After Jisung finally pulled away from the hug, Jeongin continued the conversation,

“Were you too shocked to return to class then?”

“Ah no I had… well, you know,” Jisung responded gingerly, his smile disappearing for a split second. Being one of the only people who was aware of Jisung’s anxiety attacks, and how bad they could be sometimes, no more needed to be said. In an attempt to console Jisung, Jeongin patted his head lightly.

“Were you okay? You should’ve called me.” Jeongin’s voice was filled with concern for his friend which if anything made Jisung feel worse, he never wanted to make his dear friend worry.

“It was okay! I don’t know how long I was out there exactly but an upperclassman helped me,” Jisung explained returning the pat by excitedly ruffling Jeongin’s chestnut hair.

“An upperclassman?”

“Yeah, well I assume they’re an upperclassman. I hadn’t seen them before but he said his name was Minho. Anyway, he really helped me out even if he didn’t do much,” he continued thoughtfully, remembering how Minho had silently waited for him to get his act together on his own but still being there to get help if necessary.

“I’m glad someone could be there for you, especially when I couldn’t.”

Jisung could tell Jeongin was still beating himself up over not being there for him, and believing he was the cause of it even though Jisung would never see it that way. Although he would never admit it to him directly, Jeongin really cared for Jisung and knowing that he was in pain without being able to do anything was hard.

Wrapping both his arms around Jeongin’s, causing the two to stop in place, Jisung reassured him once again.

“It’s okay Innie, you did nothing wrong. And I’m okay, really.”

He knew he was stretching the truth a bit, Minho had helped him but his heart still hurt from the rejection, it had only been a few hours. Not to mention his constant worry about word spreading through the school that was eating away at him. Despite that he gave his widest smile to his friend as he looked up at him, tightening his grip around his arm. Consoling his closest friend was way more important to him than any of that.

“Ah, you’re so clingy,” Jeongin joked, returning Jisung’s smile with an even bigger one. There it is: Jeongin’s usual playful (and somewhat genuine) hatred of Jisung’s physical contact. If it wasn’t for the fact his arms were comfy around Jeongin’s arm he would’ve poked his friends cheeks right then and there, cooing about how cute he was while doing so.

The conversation topic swiftly moved on to the usual things they would talk about: the latest series’ they had watched or read, games they had played. Silly things like that. Jisung was still wrapped round Jeongin despite his attempts at shaking him off. Their walk would’ve happily continued like that if it wasn’t for the interruption.

“Hey Jisung, Jeongin!” a voice called enthusiastically from behind them. Hearing their names, both Jisung and Jeongin turned their heads (Jisung finally letting go of Jeongin’s arm) to find their classmate, Felix, waving at them from a few metres away.

Lee Felix was also a first year in the same class as the two friends. He was extremely outgoing even though he hadn’t lived here very long; it didn’t take long for him to become friends with Jisung and Jeongin. Although he wasn’t as close to them as each other, they’d chat whenever they saw each other and hang out during the breaks sometimes.

“Hi Felix,” Jisung replied, watching as the blonde jogged to catch up with them. As he approached, Jeongin also joyfully greeted the boy.

“What are you doing here, I thought you lived in the opposite direction?” Jeongin asked. Now that Jisung thought about it, Felix had mentioned he lived on the other side of the town.

“I heard about this great cafe on this side of town I thought I’d try it out. I’m glad I ran into you guys, wanna join me?” Felix invited eagerly.

“Are you talking about Brewster’s?” Jeongin’s eyes lit up as he asked for confirmation. Jisung couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle seeing the younger so happy. “I love that cafe, me and Jisung go all the time!”

“Really? Maybe you can recommend me something then?”

“Of course,” Jisung chirped. At his reply he could see Jeongin give him a quick look of worry out of the corner of his eye but Jisung laid his hand gently on his shoulder in reassurance. Jisung knew he could use the distraction, plus a large hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and marshmallows sounded perfect right about now.

“Let’s go then!” Felix announced cheerily, sneaking his way in between the two friends and placing his arms on their shoulders.

“Let’s go!” Jisung mimicked, the three going on their way.

-

Over a week had passed since Jisung’s confession, the event seeming like months ago. To Jisung it was still painful to get over but luckily the crush hadn’t developed much. Not only that but his paranoia about word spreading through the school stayed as just his mind worrying too much, like it usually did. The days stayed the same as they had done up to that point.

Well, almost.

As the pain from him being rejected started to disappear from his mind, more thoughts of the kind upperclassman who had helped him took its place. He didn’t intend to think about him, it just kind of happened.

Jisung was vulnerable at the time and just having someone be there for him meant a lot, even if it was a stranger. If anything that meant more, the fact he went out of his way to help some random guy breaking down in the middle of the school. What he thought about most was how he didn’t even get to thank him.

“Earth to Jisung,” Jeongin called out waving a hand in front of Jisung’s face. It was currently the first Monday break, Jeongin had come over to his desk as he usually did during their breaks.

“Sorry I was just thinking about something.”

“What’s that?” Jeongin asked, gesturing to the handkerchief that originally belonged to Minho that Jisung was holding in his hands. After washing it he wasn’t really sure what to do with it so he decided to keep it in his blazer pocket. Without noticing it, he must’ve taken it from his pocket as he thought back to the owner of the item.

“It’s the handkerchief Minho gave me back at that time,” Jisung explained, putting it back in its original place.

“Shouldn’t you return it?”

In response, Jisung just shrugged.

“He said he didn’t want it back.” Knowing the state it was in after he had used it, Jisung would’ve said the same if he were in that situation but Jeongin did have a point. After washing the item, it was almost as good as new and it looked like it was quite expensive. He should return it when he saw Minho again. If he saw Minho again. Not knowing his class, or even his year and just his first name didn’t give him much to go on. It would have to be a lucky coincidence for them to meet again.

The bell for the next lesson rang and Jeongin muttered a goodbye, quickly heading back to his seat. Jisung watched as the various other students came back from whatever activities they were doing during their breaks, waiting for the teacher to return. He gave a friendly wave to Felix as he saw him arrive in the classroom as well.

It only took a couple more minutes for the teacher to arrive, asking for everyone to get out their books. Following the order, Jisung reached for his bag that was at the side of his desk only to be intercepted due to it being knocked out of the way by someone’s foot.

Jisung looked up to see who had hit it, not being surprised once he found his answer: Hyunjin.

Hwang Hyunjin was a first year in Jisung’s class. In the short time since their year had begun, he had become notorious for having a bad attitude. Although he wasn’t openly aggressive, he just didn’t care about any of the students, the teachers or anyone for that matter. Except for one person.

“Sorry Jisung,” a sympathetic voice trailing behind Hyunjin apologised, picking up the knocked over bag.

Kim Seungmin was another member of Jisung’s class and the only person who was close to Hyunjin. He seemed nice but most people were too scared to go near him as he was always with the aforementioned party. No one’s really sure why Seungmin puts up with him but at least the boy in question seemed to listen to him.

“Hyunjin, Seungmin you’re already late. Sit down and stop causing a fuss,” the teacher ordered strictly.

Hyunjin was already on the way to his desk, leisurely walking over and taking his time to sit down despite the teacher’s annoyance. Of course, he didn’t notice. Seungmin hastily handed Jisung his bag, giving an apologetic smile as he did so, and trotted off to his desk as well. 

It wasn’t like Jisung was the only one who received this treatment from Hyunjin, but he had noticed he was usually on the other end of Hyunjin’s antics. As far as Jisung was aware, he hadn’t done anything to upset him - Jisung just assumed Hyunjin didn’t like him. Naturally, Jisung didn’t like Hyunjin either.

Sighing, Jisung finally took out his book and opened it ready for the lesson.

-

Jisung wasn’t a bad student, but he also wasn’t the best. Unlike Jeongin who always did every assignment the night he would get it, Jisung would often procrastinate leaving it to the night, or sometimes even the morning, before. So, as most people would agree, an hour of maths on a Monday morning was boring for Jisung. He couldn’t help it if the drowsiness from staying up binge watching a series was making sleep seem so tempting while the teacher was explaining algebraic division. To put it simply: Jisung had fallen asleep in class.

“Uh-hum,” the teacher cleared their throat loudly next to Jisung’s desk, waking him and causing the class to erupt in laughter at his disheveled state, “Jisung, you look well rested. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind bringing the resources for my next class.”

Before Jisung could argue the teacher was already walking back to the front of the room impatiently gesturing for Jisung to follow. Maybe he would’ve argued if he was feeling up to it but, having just woken up, he knew doing so would only further embarrass himself.

Groggily, he got up from his desk, walked to the front (giving a quick ‘save me’ look to Jeongin as he passed him who just mouthed ‘You’re on your own’ back) and grabbed the pile of textbooks the teacher wanted him to carry. Fortunately, they weren’t too heavy.

“Class dismissed,” the teacher announced, once again gesturing for Jisung to follow them out of the room. Once they were in the hallway the teacher gave further instructions, “I need to stop by the staff room to grab something for the class. Bring those books to room 309- you do know where that is right?

“Roughly, the third floor right?” Jisung checked, not wanting to deal with asking a stranger for directions.

“Yes, it’s in the middle of the hallway. Stay with the books until I return, I want to make sure they get there safely,” the teacher finished, turning around the moment their sentence ended. Jisung was a little offended they didn’t trust him to get the books there but in the teacher’s defense he had just fallen asleep in class and he knew how clumsy he could be sometimes.

It didn’t take long to reach the third floor, although Jisung’s breath had grown heavy from the amount of steps he’d had to take while carrying thirty or so textbooks (and the fact he did no physical exercise - ever). He scanned the signs next to the doorways until he found room 309, swiftly entering the room.

Trying to ignore the quizzical looks from the members of that class wondering what a first year was doing in their classroom, he carefully placed the textbooks on the desks. Now without a task to do, he shifted around nervously waiting for the teacher until someone called out to him.

“Jisung?” the voice questioned. He looked to the source of the sound to be met with a curious Minho walking in his direction. Jisung’s eyes grew wide at the unexpected meeting. “It is you! What are you doing here?”

“My teacher asked me to bring these textbooks to the classroom,” Jisung explained choosing to leave out the part about him falling asleep. Being face to face with Minho again made him anxious - knowing that the first, last and only time they had met Jisung had been a wreck.

“And here I thought you came to see me,” Minho teased, a slight pout playing on his lips. Jisung couldn’t help but relax a bit and giggle at the elder’s playfulness.

“Actually I’m glad we met again,” Jisung started, reaching for the handkerchief in his pocket, “I can return this and finally tha-”

“I thought I said I didn’t need it back,” Minho interjected, hastily taking the handkerchief anyway.

“I know but as we met like this anyway it seemed only natural to give it back.”

“So you had this in your pocket the entire time even though you didn’t plan on giving back?,” Minho asked, a hint of mischievousness in his voice, “Or were you planning some big gesture when giving it back because you were swept away by my manliness. Jisung I know I was cool but we’ve only just met.” 

“N-n-no, tha- that’s not it!” Jisung stuttered frantically, bashfulness overcoming him from Minho’s semi-true teasing, “I just didn’t know what class you were in. I didn’t even know you were a third year!”

“You’re cute when you’re flustered,” Minho commented, giving Jisung a playful wink. An involuntary blush spread across Jisung’s face at his words. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was always how Minho acted.

“Do you mind if I ask a question?” Jisung inquired in an attempt to change the conversation topic, but also because he genuinely had a question he kept wanting to ask him since that day. Minho just hummed in reply which Jisung took as a ‘Sure, ask away’. “Why did you help me?”

“Is it that weird to help someone?” Minho chuckled.

“It’s not that it’s weird it’s just…” Jisung hesitated for a second - scared of what he would say being taken in the wrong way, “I’m just not sure I would’ve done the same in your situation.”

“Well, it’s quite simple really. I was walking past on my way to class when I saw you, I thought it was the perfect excuse to be late to class. How could the teacher scold me for helping someone in trouble?” he replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. It would be a lie to say Jisung wasn’t expecting some other reason as to why he helped him - the reason he gave, while it did make sense, just didn’t seem right to him.

Jisung was about to press for more information when the maths teacher finally arrived at the classroom. 

“I see you found the room just fine. You should head back to your class, you won’t be late if you hurry,” the teacher instructed, starting the preparations for their next lesson.

“Looks like you have to go,” Minho observed, “It was nice to see you again though.”

“Same to you, maybe we’ll see each other around the school some time,” Jisung pointed out before giving his goodbye. He began to head out of the classroom hearing a goodbye from Minho as well. He turned his head to give a smile and a wave, which Minho returned, then went on his way.

On his way back to class he thought about what he was going to ask Minho if their conversation had continued: ‘Was that really the reason?’. Not knowing what he expected from that answer or why he even wanted to ask it in the first place, Jisung buried the thought and hurried to class.

Anyway, if it was still bugging him, Jisung was sure he could ask Minho the next time they ran into each other.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like cliche moments because there's probably going to be a lot scattered throughout this fic (sorry I'm a sucker for cliches)
> 
> ~
> 
> Reminder everything in this story is fictional and Stray Kids members are only used as bases for characters: in no way am I suggesting the members have gone through or are currently going through anything presented in this story.

Jisung’s morning routine before school was quite straight forward: wake up to his alarm, hit snooze until the last possible moment, go to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, throw on his school uniform (which may or may not have been washed depending on the day), eat breakfast with his family then head off to meet Jeongin to walk to school together. It was a typical routine for a high school boy.

“Dear,” Jisung’s mother began, her ‘loving’ tone obviously forced, “Could you pass me the water pitcher?”

“Why would I pass it to you when it’s right in front of you?” Jisung’s father grumbled, keeping his eyes fixed on the newspaper in his hands. It was only when Jisung’s mum cleared her throat much louder than necessary that he gave her some of his attention, to which she responded by pointing her head to their son who was joining them at the table. Once Jisung’s father noticed, he quickly folded his newspaper and did what was originally asked of him. “Oh, I’m sorry Darling, I didn’t realise it was so far away from you.”

Maybe to some people this interaction didn’t seem out of the ordinary, but Jisung could tell how artificial their actions had become. He wasn’t an idiot, he could hear the arguing through the walls when they thought he was asleep. When he came downstairs he could see the cushions on the sofa rearranged in a new way everyday with a blanket tucked in the corner, remnants from someone sleeping there.

Jisung knew what was happening. He just chose not to acknowledge it.

“I’m heading off now,” Jisung announced, his last bite of toast still in his mouth causing the sound to be muffled. He got up from his seat, grabbing his bag that was at the side of the hallway and headed for the door.

“Have a good day at school, sweetie,” Jisung’s mother lovingly called after him (a complete contrast to how she was speaking to his father earlier) to which Jisung hummed in response and left his house.

This is something that Jisung had started to notice since he began high school, even though he’s sure that it’d been going on longer than that. However, he didn’t want to talk about it, let alone think about it, because that would make it seem like it was actually happening. His parents were so convinced that Jisung had no idea, probably due to the fact that he never commented on it, and they wanted to protect him from the truth for as long as possible. Additionally, Jisung’s older sister was studying abroad so she was completely ignorant to what was going on.

They were all living in a facade to escape the reality of the situation; worried about the happy family life they had been painting to be smeared and ruined forever.

“What took you so long?” Jeongin asked impatiently yet waving cheerily as he saw Jisung approaching the corner of the road they always met at.

“I’m perfectly on time, you’re just freakishly early as usual,” Jisung retorted, putting his arm around his friend and semi-dragging him until their paces matched.

Jisung hadn’t told Jeongin about what was happening. Why should he bother his friend with news that might burden him? Plus, he knew if he told him Jeongin would start to become overly cautious about it (not to make him feel uncomfortable - it was just how Jeongin was) but Jisung didn’t want that. 

With Jeongin, at least, he wanted everything to be normal.

-

It was the lunch break at school and as usual Jisung was eating with Jeongin in the cafeteria. Although both of them usually brought lunch from home, it was just more comfortable to eat in the cafeteria rather than the classroom. Jisung would hate if they were trapped in that stuffy classroom all day without rest, at least at lunch they could enjoy the openness of the cafeteria (despite the amount of people there).

“Not looking for your boyfriend this time?” Jeongin inquired playfully, taking a bite of the sandwich he had in his hands.

A month had passed since Jisung’s first encounter with Minho and a few weeks since the last. Unlike what Jisung had originally thought, they didn’t see each other at all since that time. Maybe it was due to the fact Jisung was a first year and Minho was a third, but for some reason fate just didn’t want them to meet.

In all honesty, for the first week or so Jisung had been looking out for Minho - excited to talk to him again. Thanks to his internal conflicts when talking to people, Jisung didn’t have many friends (the only people he could talk to comfortably at school were Jeongin and Felix), so it was nice to find someone else he could connect with. However, as time had gone on Jisung’s anticipation to meet Minho slowly disappeared until it was non-existent upon the realisation he probably wouldn’t see him again and if they did it would only be a brief greeting in passing. 

Sure Jisung could go visit him in his classroom but what if Minho didn’t want to see him? What if the reason they hadn’t met wasn’t due to bad timing but because Minho was actually avoiding him? He didn’t really want to find out the answers to those questions.

Obviously, Jeongin had noticed his best friend’s unusual behaviour since day one.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jisung deflected, lying through his teeth but knowing saying anything along the lines of ‘he’s not my boyfriend’ or ‘why would I be looking for him?’ would acknowledge the fact that Jisung associated the statement with Minho. Which was actually true but he didn’t need his friend to have any more fuel for teasing him. Plus, it’s not like Jisung liked him in that way, he was just interested in having someone to talk to.

“That’s a lie and we both know it,” Jeongin remarked mischievously, “But why aren’t you looking out for Minho?”

“Am I supposed to be looking for him?” Jisung answered while laughing at his friend’s insistence, “Are you just jealous at the thought I could have someone else on my mind other than you?”

Jeongin was about to reply with something along the lines of ‘in your dreams’, but Jisung had already reached over the table to ruffle the younger’s hair and poke his cheeks that were puffed out due to the sandwich he was eating.

“Jisung, stop treating me like a baby,” Jeongin pouted jokingly, which just made him even cuter in Jisung’s eyes. How could he not treat him like that when his friend was just so naturally adorable?

“But you are a baby. Don’t ever grow up Innie, you’re not allowed to,” Jisung ordered adoringly, going back to ruffling his hair.

“Looks like you two are getting along as usual,” a familiar deep voice noted with a chuckle, the owner grabbing a chair and joining Jisung and Jeongin at their table.

“Felix, save me!” Jeongin pleaded desperately, his eyes shining like a puppy waiting for the leftovers from dinner. It was a look Jisung knew all too well.

“Don’t fall for it Felix, it’s a trap! It starts like this but it will end with you having to buy him a whole extra ice cream just because he was clumsy and dropped the first,” Jisung warned, exaggerating his voice where necessary for effect.

“That was one time!” Jeongin argued, his pout from before returning, “It’s the ground’s fault for being uneven.”

“And it’s your fault for not looking where you were going!” 

The bickering between the two couldn’t help but make Felix laugh at them: for one it was entertaining to say the least but it also just showed how close the two really were which anyone would admire. Felix’s laugh brought the two friend’s attention back to the blonde, ending their pathetic excuse of an argument.

“As much fun as watching you two bicker is, I actually came over here to ask you guys something,” Felix cut in, his look filled with adoration at seeing how close the two friends were. “My parents are away this weekend and I’m sort of hosting a party that’s not a party and more like a gathering but I’m calling it a party because it’s easier and sounds cooler.”

“It’s clearly not easier if you had to do all that explanation,” Jisung retorted, going back to eating his lunch.

“You have a point,” Felix agreed, chuckling slightly, before continuing, “Anyway, are you guys up for coming?”

Both Jeongin and Jisung looked at each other cautiously for a few moments before either of them answered. Jisung was the first to break the short moment of silence

“Parties aren’t typically my thing,” Jisung started hesitantly, not wanting to offend Felix.

“It’s not a party it’s a gathering,” Felix returned, “But it’ll be fun!”

“I know but I’m not good with a lot of people in a small space. Especially ones I don’t know,” Jisung explained, his look shifting from Felix to staring at a suddenly very interesting spot on the table.

“Ah…” Felix said thoughtfully, “Well I don’t want to force you to do something that will make you uncomfortable.”

“Maybe it’s not a bad idea,” Jeongin piped up, looking towards Jisung confidently, “Jisung maybe it’d be good to go.”

“I don’t know…”

It wasn’t that Jisung didn’t want to go somewhere to meet new people or to have fun with his already existing friends but... he was Jisung. He was awkward and weird and insignificant and unwanted and everything people didn’t want at a party. Going there would just make him feel like even more of an outcast.

“Think about it. It’ll only be a small gathering of people, right Felix?” Jeongin changed the focus of his gaze to Felix as he asked him.

“Yeah, I think there will be around 8 people including us? Give or take a couple,” Felix confirmed.

“See, that’ll be fine. Me and Felix will be there the whole time too and if you ever feel overwhelmed we can just leave,” Jeongin encouraged. Jisung knew Jeongin was right, that all his points were valid and it would be a good idea to go. 

But… he was Jisung.

“Bu-”

“No I’ve made the decision as your best friend we are going to this,” Jeongin asserted firmly, a wave of confidence overtaking him. He just wanted to help his friend overcome his fears and he knew this would be the perfect place to start. “We’re in high school now, let’s go have some fun! Felix text me the time and place I’ll make sure to drag him over.”

“I’m fine with that but Jisung are you really okay going? The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable,” Felix voiced, obviously concerned about Jisung. In the short time Jisung had known Felix he knew he could trust him - that he was a good person who genuinely cared about people, especially his friends. He also knew that Jeongin was doing this for his sake; it wasn’t like Jeongin was going out to parties (or gatherings) every weekend without him.

“Well…” Jisung began slowly, still staring at the table but quickly tilting his head so he was making eye contact with Jeongin. Before he could react, Jisung already had his hands cupping Jeongin’s cheeks, using them to shake his head slightly. “How could I say no to this adorable face.”

“Jisung!” Jeongin whined, but complied with the older’s affection for now.

“Awesome! Don’t worry guys everyone’s really cool and I’m sure you’ll click,” Felix reassured them, “I’ll see you guys in the next class I need to gather up the remaining guests.”

Jisung and Jeongin waved Felix off and returned to their lunch, talking about the usual random topics they would. Despite the nagging thoughts still lingering in his head, Jisung decided he was going to enjoy this as much as he could. Jeongin was right. Felix was right. His thoughts were wrong.

He was going to have fun.

-

“Jeongin maybe we should hang around somewhere first, we’re really early,” Jisung urged nervously, waiting outside the front door of Felix’s house.

“And give you an excuse not to go at all? Plus we’re not even that early,” Jeongin returned, pressing the doorbell before Jisung could argue further.

Today was the day of Felix’s party/gathering/whatever it was called and, as promised, Jeongin and Jisung had arrived. Despite the conclusion Jisung had come to during that lunch period, there had been several times in the days between then and now Jeongin had received some frantic texts from Jisung saying how they should reconsider. Naturally, Jeongin wouldn’t let his friend bail out that easily but in this case Jisung was actually right: they were early by at least thirty minutes.

“Hey guys! You’re early,” Felix observed as he opened the door. Being proven right, Jisung gave Jeongin an ‘I told you so’ look, sticking out his tongue for a split second.

“You can blame this one for that,” Jisung responded, draping his arm over Jeongin.

“Well if we left it up to you we either would’ve been late or wouldn’t have shown up at all.”

“It’s okay, there’s actually someone else who was even earlier. Come on in,” Felix invited happily, moving to the side to allow the two into his house. They were guided into the living room where they were met with the aforementioned guest. The boy sitting on the sofa had a sharp jawline and a piercing gaze that seemed just a bit intimidating. Instinctively, Jeongin and Jisung stepped a little closer to each other.

“Hey,” the boy greeted casually, his voice husky. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence - exactly what Jisung had feared. However, that was instantly broken when Felix walked in the room with his usual cheery manner, his smile like the sun.

“Jeongin and Jisung this is Changbin,” Felix introduced, breaking the awkward atmosphere, “Changbin these are the classmates I told you about.”

Seo Changbin was a second year at the same school as the others. He had met Felix by accident but after meeting they had become close quite quickly.

The elder had stood up from the sofa to greet Jisung and Jeongin more formally. However, before that could happen Jeongin couldn’t help but voice his sudden observation.

“Jisung! We finally found someone shorter than you!”

Who knew such a sentence could instantly take out three teenagers. Although it wasn’t Jeongin’s intention (he had really just said it without thinking first) both Jisung and Changbin were fatally wounded by his comment. Felix was curled up on the floor due to the laughing fit the youngest had caused.

“I’m not that short!” Jisung and Changbin defended in unison. The two locked eyes after the accidental simultaneous outburst, causing the two to join Felix in his laughter (although much more controlled).

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude!” Jeongin apologised profusely, face slowly becoming redder at the realisation he probably just offended someone he literally met less than a minute ago. “I was just expecting you to be taller for some reason.”

“How could you call someone you just met short!” Changbin yelled in fake anger.

“Well it’s just Jisung is tiny-”

“Hey!” Jisung interrupted, following Changbin’s example of mock anger.

“If Jisung’s tiny then what does that make me?” Changbin questioned. It was Felix who saved Jeongin from the predicament he had put himself in, after getting his own laughing situation under control..

“Seems like you guys are getting along just fine,” Felix observed, a goofy grin on his face, “I’ll get you guys some drinks. Coke or orange juice okay?”

“Coke for both of us,” Jisung informed, Jeongin giving a nod of approval to show he was okay with what Jisung had asked for him.

“You guys must be pretty close then,” Changbin stated, choosing to drop their previous topic.

“Not at all,” Jeongin deadpanned, “I hate him.”

“Jeongin it’s okay, no matter how many cold words you throw at me I know you love me deep down inside.” Jisung began his usual exaggerated acting routine, at first he was hesitant but when looking over to see Changbin with a look of amusement on his face he decided to continue. “Where did my precious friend who would tell me he missed me when I was gone for only a day go?”

“That’s just a fantasy you made up,” Jeongin retorted coldly.

“Wow, you guys are exactly as Felix described you,” Changbin noted, chuckling to himself. The two felt a little embarrassed thinking about how Felix had described them if what had just happened was an accurate representation, but Jisung was just happy he had actually talked about them to someone else.

“I’ll be taking that as a compliment,” Jisung said happily.

“I won’t,” Jeongin disagreed playfully, “So Changbin, how do you know Felix?”

Changbin went on to explain how the two had met due to Felix’s absent mindedness, he wasn’t looking where he was going causing him to bump into Changbin. Still not sure how, Felix’s forehead was scraped and began to bleed so Changbin hurriedly took him to the Nurse’s Office. Felix being Felix, he insisted on thanking Changbin somehow so they went out for a drink at a cafe and discovered they got along quite well. Somewhere during the conversation, Felix had come back in the room and joined in, adding in his own comments to the story. 

Jisung could tell Changbin was a nice guy, and not nearly as intimidating as his first impression made him out to be. They hadn’t realised how much time had passed until the doorbell rang.

“Wonder who will be next,” Felix thought out loud, rushing over to answer the door.

From the living room the three could hear some muffled talking and lots of laughing, as well as what sounded like some introductions. After a few minutes the mystery guests appeared with Felix in tow.

The first of the two new faces had a blindingly bright smile that caused dimples on his face to appear, his hair also dyed blonde like Felix’s. The other also wore a smile but it had a much more warm and comforting feeling, which contrasted with his large build.

“Everyone this is Chan,” Felix began, pointing to the slightly shorter boy with the previously mentioned dimples then moving to gesture to the other, “and this is his boyfriend Woojin.”

Bang Chan was Felix’s family friend from when he lived abroad, their parents had known each other beforehand so they easily became friends as they grew up. Chan had moved to this area a few years before Felix but Felix’s parents ended up following shortly after to be closer to their own family.

Lee Woojin attends Chan’s university and works in the library there part time. After seeing the cute librarian Chan had gone their everyday to flirt (not always very successfully) with him until one day Woojin finally caved and they started going out.

They all went through the usual formalities which quickly broke into normal conversation.

“By the way Felix, when I heard about you from Chan I had no idea you were in the same class as my brother,” Woojin chimed in.

“Oh really?” Felix questioned curiously. He obviously didn’t know about it either.

“Yeah, I found out because you invited them today. They’ll probably be here soon they just went to get their friend first,” Woojin explained.

“Ah!” Felix exclaimed, the pieces clicking together in his head, “Wow, I would’ve never guess you two were brothers!”

“Yeah, we’re technically step-brothers but it happened so long ago that we might as well be related by blood.”

Another classmate was coming? Jisung couldn’t help but be curious who it would be. Felix was friendly with pretty much everyone so it was hard to pinpoint who exactly he would invite - especially when Jeongin and him had been on that short list. When Jisung looked at Jeongin, he could tell he was wondering the same thing.

“By the way Chan,” Felix changed topics, “I know you’re dating now but how could you not stop to pick up-”

“Hey, you should know I’m not like that! I did knock on his door but he said he’d make his own way over when he was ready,” Chan interjected, getting a consoling pat from Woojin.

Felix looked like he was going to make another remark but was distracted by the doorbell ringing. Like before, he ran off to answer it leaving the others to start mingling between themselves. Jisung decided not to concern himself with who the next guests were and focus on talking to everyone else. He had already become quite fond of Changbin, plus Chan and Woojin seemed friendly as well. It was only when said guests entered the room that they had his full attention.

“So I’m sure Jeongin, Jisung and Woojin know these two already,” Felix started gesturing to the two boys who had come in the room, “but this is Seungmin and Hyunjin.”

Jisung couldn’t even process what happened next, his mind was all over the place. What was Hyunjin doing here? Of course Felix must’ve invited him but why? Was it to target him? No. Felix wouldn’t do that - he knew that of course but that small amount of doubt couldn’t help but cloud his mind.

Absentmindedly, Jisung began staring at Hyunjin. As soon as their eyes met, his head shot back down to his hands that were fidgeting nervously in his lap. Even for that millisecond of contact, Jisung could feel the coldness behind his eyes.

“Jisungie?”

What was he supposed to do? Jisung never thought that Hyunjin would be invited to this, even though he knew Felix regularly talked with Seungmin in class. There’s no way he could handle being in a small space with Hyunjin this long - he had no idea what he’d do to him. Even if he didn’t do anything he knew he’d just be worrying the whole time. He didn’t want to ruin the party for everyone while being nervous the whole time. They probably wouldn’t miss him anyway, Felix had lots of other friends there and the others had only just met him so it’s not like they actually wanted to talk to him.

“Jisung!” Jeongin called out again worriedly, this time much louder. It was enough to snap Jisung out of his thoughts but also put him in the spotlight. Anyone who was in a conversation abruptly cut it off, now looking towards Jeongin and Jisung who were sat on the sofa. 

“I-I think I have to go,” Jisung muttered, stumbling over his words and standing up much faster than he should’ve. Blood rushed to his head making him wobble a bit but he managed to regain his balance. He knew he could hear a chorus of ‘Are you okay?’ and ‘What’s wrong?’ but he just wanted to get out of the room - that cramped space filled with people - as fast as possible.

Without thinking he practically ran to Felix’s front door, opening it hastily and crashing into someone who was in front of it when attempting to leave. It caused the two to fall over onto the path that lead up to Felix’s house, with Jisung on top of the other.

“I know you must be happy to see me but this is a bit excessive,” the person who was helplessly pinned underneath Jisung commented teasingly despite the situation. 

“Oh, sorry,” Jisung apologised, hurriedly getting off the person. Funnily enough, the crash had helped to calm the chaos that was happening in his mind slightly; that was until Jisung finally looked at who he had fallen into.

“Hi Jisung,” a warm voice filled with amusement greeted. A kind smile that Jisung had seen before spreading across the person’s face.

“Minho?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there was basically no Minsung interaction in this chapter but trust me this is all really important set up for whats going to happen later.
> 
> Plus, all the members have finally been introduced~
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I would appreciate any feedback and I'll see you guys in the next chapter :)


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Usual reminder:  
This story is completely fictional and only uses Stray Kids as a base for the characters. I am not suggesting that any of the members have gone through or are currently going through anything that happens within this story.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Minho?” Jisung sputtered, obviously confused at the current situation. Was Minho really there? Or had is anxiety gotten so bad it had now started to cause hallucinations? “W-what are you doing here?”

“Probably the same reason as you,” Minho answered, getting up off the ground from where he was still lying and gently brushing his trousers to get rid of any dirt. Jisung quickly did the same, standing up properly, still staring at the older in bewilderment. Unfortunately, Jisung didn’t get much time to think (or ask) about it because they were quickly joined by two others.

“What happened?” Felix asked worriedly. He and Jeongin were in the doorway observing the situation after they had followed Jisung to see check if he was alright.

“Jisung! Are you okay?” Jeongin questioned frantically, slipping past Felix and running to his friend’s side.

“I’m fine,” Jisung assured convincingly, remembering what had actually just happened which lead to this situation. Basically, he had just had a panic attack in the middle of Felix’s home, the least he could do is apologise now he’s calmed down a little. “Sorry if I caused a scene.”

“It’s okay, everyone’s just a bit worried though,” Felix began but his thoughts were interrupted when he spotted the other boy in front of his door, “Minho! You finally showed up.”

“Hey Lix, I didn’t know this is how you welcomed people at your house,” Minho joked, though his face stayed relatively expressionless.

“Ah, I’m sorry again,” Jisung apologised, still embarrassed and trying to process how Minho was actually there, “I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you alright?”

“Now you ask,” Minho teased once again, but the kind, gentle smile Jisung had seen several times now soon found its way back onto his face, “It’s okay Jisung, I’m fine.”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Felix asked, curiosity overtaking any remaining worry (especially since both of them had confirmed they were okay).

“I could say the same, I was never expecting to see Minho here,” Jisung countered, attempting to avoid having to tell Felix about their messy first encounter.

Felix was about to come up with some follow up remark, but Chan had come to the doorway looking for everyone since they had been taking so long and they could hear the faint chatter from the living room. 

“Hey guys, why don’t you have this conversation inside,” he suggested, after joining Felix in the doorway and piecing together what happened. 

They all agreed and hurriedly headed to the living room, which now felt a little cramped due to having so many people there when it wasn’t the biggest room. Seungmin was sat on an ottoman in the corner, with Hyunjin leaning on the wall next to him, seemingly in his own world. Changbin was still on the sofa and Woojin was sat in an armchair that was placed next to it. 

“Jisung you okay?” Changbin asked as they all entered the room.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Jisung apologised once again. Everyone (excluding Hyunjin of course) had insisted it was okay but Jisung couldn’t help but beat himself up over it. This was what he had been worried about in the first place but he knew if he tried to leave again he would just cause another ruckus and make everything even worse than he already had. He felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Luckily, Jeongin was there to give him some comforting pats on the back which made him feel at least a little better.

“So Jisung or Minho, care to explain how you know each other,” Felix encouraged, eager to find out the reasoning behind this twist of events.

“Wait Jisung, is this that Minho?” Jeongin whispered, quiet enough so no one else could hear except Jisung who was right next to him. Jisung nodded hesitantly in response causing Jeongin to let out a small ‘Oh my god’.

“There’s nothing much to it,” Minho began nonchalantly. Jisung’s heart felt like it stopped - what if Minho said too much? What if he told everyone about the state he was in when they first met? What if everyone thought he was crazy? Especially after what had just happened; he had always felt like an outcast but this would truly make it a reality.

Fortunately, Minho’s next sentence allowed Jisung to breathe again. 

“We just met by coincidence one day at lunch and then again when he was running an errand for the teacher.”

Felix nodded in acknowledgement, but looked a little disappointed at the uninteresting story. On the other hand, Jisung was infinitely thankful to Minho. They had a split moment of eye contact, the two giving knowing smiles to each other, before breaking it.

“Anyway, let me introduce Minho to everyone else,” Felix announced cheerily.

Lee Minho is a third year attending the same school as everyone else (except Chan and Woojin). Although he hadn’t met Felix until recently, they were cousins and since Felix had moved to this area they had quickly hit it off. Especially since they had a common friend: Chan. When Chan had moved here he had coincidentally become neighbours with Minho and they had become close over time. When they found out they both knew Felix they couldn’t believe the chances.

“Wow, it really is a small world,” Woojin thought out loud - to which everyone agreed.

“It’s almost as if fate brought us all together,” Chan commented excitedly, clapping like a young child.

“As if,” Hyunjin scoffed. Everyone was taken aback by the boy’s sudden remark, considering he hadn’t said anything this whole time.

“I think it could be fate,” Seungmin chimed in, trying to bring back the destroyed mood. Hyunjin rolled his eyes but held his tongue. “This is too much to be coincidence.”

A comfortable silence came over the room. All the boys’ could think about was what if their meetings that lead up to where they were now were something decided long ago or if it really was just all chance. How much of their relationships were predestined and how much were happy accidents?

No matter what the unknown answer to that question is, it didn’t change the fact that all nine of them had managed to gather there together in that moment.

-

Their large group conversation gradually split into two conversations in two groups consisting of Felix, Changbin, Jeongin and Jisung in one and the rest in the other. At some point during the group of four’s chat, Felix and Changbin had started talking on their own, causing Jeongin and Jisung to casually slip into one as well.

“So that’s the infamous Minho then?” Jeongin asked amusedly, nudging his head in the older’s direction.

“I’m not sure if you could call him infamous, but yes,” Jisung responded, a hint of shyness in his voice.

“Maybe I should go and thank him for what he did,” the younger announced abruptly, looking at the person in question.

“Are you crazy? Why would you do that?”

“It’s just he was there to help you when you needed it and…” Jeongin began but stopped when Jisung put his hand on his shoulder, causing the younger to look directly at his friend.

“It’s not necessary,” Jisung confirmed, pulling his friend into a hug. It was a form of physical affection that said more than any sentence Jisung or Jeongin would be able to come up with. They understood and cared for each other and in ways like this was how they really showed that. 

The two stayed comfortably like that for a few seconds but pulled apart eventually. When they did Jisung accidentally caught Minho staring at him, who, once he was caught, hastily went back to the conversation he was having with Woojin and Chan. It also looked like their group had split into two conversations, as Seungmin and Hyunjin were talking by themselves in the corner of the room. So much for expanding the friendship groups.

“Why don’t you go talk to him?” Jeongin suggested, noticing what had just happened, “He looks like he wants to talk to you too.”

“And awkwardly butt into their conversation? No way. He was just looking at us because what we were doing was weird.”

“It wasn’t weird!” Jeongin countered dramatically, “All friends hug!”

“Maybe he doesn’t think that way,” Jisung reasoned, feeling a fresh new wave of anxiety come over him.

It was then that Chan suddenly turned around to face in Felix’s direction, interrupting the conversation they were having.

“Felix is it okay if me and Woojin go in the garden?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Felix permitted, swiftly going back to his chat with Changbin. Chan then turned back around and gave Minho a small wave. Proceeding to grab Woojin gingerly by the arm and drag him to the back door. 

“He’s alone, now’s your chance!” Jeongin pointed out enthusiastically. He knew Jisung would thank him for this later, and regret if he didn’t get to talk with Minho.

“I already said I’m not going over there.” An exaggerated sigh escaped from Jeongin’s lips as he realised how insistent his friend was being. It was then that Jeongin decided he would have to take drastic measures.

“Well I’m going to go talk to Seungmin, so you can make your choice,” Jeongin announced coldly, getting up from the sofa and running over to the corner before Jisung could argue. He always knew his friend was secretly evil but this was a new level - he’d have to get him back for this another time.

Jisung was sat there for a few seconds watching as his friend happily joined the other two, his habit of nervously fidgeting with his hands appearing once again as he saw his friend naturally settle in with the others. He was left debating what to do: whether to stay in his lonesome situation or actually try to talk to Minho (those being the only two options because there was no way he was going to try and talk to the person he disliked the most). Fortunately, someone else made the decision for him.

“Hey Jisung,” Minho greeted coolly as he came to sit next to him. Jisung just sat in silence staring at him with his doe eyes as wide as they could be. When seeing this Minho couldn’t help but scooch away from Jisung a bit, making the gap between them much larger than necessary, in an attempt to make the younger comfortable. “Do you not want to talk to me?”

“No, of course not,” Jisung assured frantically. He couldn’t help but repeatedly call himself an idiot in his head; he didn’t mean to offend him he was just taken back a little (well, maybe a little was an understatement).

“Are you uncomfortable around me? You always seem a little flustered,” Minho questioned, concerned he was doing something to make the younger feel unwelcome in someway.

“No it’s not that,” Jisung hesitated before a small voice in his head told him to just go ahead and say it, “The first time we met I was… you know. Then in the second I thought we could become friends but after I hadn’t seen you I buried that hope. And today I met you again by running into you. I just thought… you must think I’m completely insane.”

“I don’t,” Minho said immediately, causing Jisung to meet his eyes. They were filled with an unwavering sincerity, and maybe all the stars in the night sky as well. “I think you’re cute.”

“If anyone’s the cute one it’s you,” Jisung responded without thinking. Minho let out an amused giggle and Jisung, realising what he said, started panicking once again. Naturally his entire face had turned a dark shade of pink, and his nervous fidgeting had returned. “No, I just meant objectively you’re extremely attractive! W-wait I mean-”

“Of course I am, I’m Lee Minho.” A second passed before it was Jisung’s turn to let out a laugh, not one that felt forced but a true laugh that allowed him to relax and feel more comfortable. “What’s so funny, I wasn’t joking.”

“I could tell,” Jisung confirmed, giving Minho a playful punch on his arm. Minho took that as an invitation to come closer to him on the sofa, which he did. “So you really weren’t avoiding me because you thought I was weird?”

“I suspected it when I first met you but you really do worry a lot, don’t you??” Minho commented half-jokingly, “We just never saw each other around school.”

Jisung couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. He really didn’t want to doubt Minho, but just like everyone, Jisung can’t control his heart and mind; in this case his heart truly trusted that wasn’t the case but his mind was causing doubt in his judgement. Hearing that it wasn’t the case from the person himself was all he needed for his mind to quieten down and let his heart do the talking.

“By the way, I noticed you were really close with that other guy. His name was Jeongin, right?” Minho asked curiously, to which Jisung nodded in confirmation.

“Of course we’re close. We’ve known each other for...” Jisung began counting on his fingers, exclaiming in shock when he realised how long it’s been, “Wow, has it been that long already? Anyway we’ve been together for so long now it’s impossible to imagine what it’d be like without each other.”

Minho hummed in acknowledgement, and Jisung continued to ramble on about his best friend. About how he pretended he didn’t like to be hugged but actually secretly did. How he didn’t like to be cute unless he wanted something (although he was always cute), using his charm to bring you to his side, and about the silly chats they’d have about anything and everything which was Jisung’s favourite thing in the world. All the while, Minho would just sit there listening, admiring how happy yet peaceful he looked when he talked.

“What kind of things would you talk about then?”

“Where do I begin? I think the most common thing we talk about are movies and series we’ve watched. Like recently I finally got around to watching a reboot of one of my favourite series when I was younger and I really think they’re incomparable. Sure the quality is a lot better and they took out a bunch of the filler stuff and made it more polished but it’s missing that nostalgic feeling, you know?” Jisung asked excitedly, finally taking a breath from his non-stop talking, aside from Minho’s occasional remarks. It seems in that moment when he asked Minho the question and finally looked at him properly, he realised how long he had been talking for. “Sorry, this is probably really boring for you.”

“Why would it be boring? Did you know when you talk about something you’re passionate about your eyes light up? It’s cute,” Minho commented, casually. No one, not even Jeongin, had said something like that to him before. Without noticing, Jisung usually got carried away when talking about something he loved and he was used to most people getting sick of it and telling him to be quiet and stop talking about it. Jeongin was similar in that way so he felt comfortable doing it around him, this was the first time someone had not only listened intently but also complimented him on it. I wonder if Minho knew how much that meant to him?

“You keep calling me cute…” Jisung pouted at first before puffing up his cheeks and putting his index finger to one of them, “Am I really that cute?”

“You are. Though, not as cute as me,” Minho answered smugly, keeping his face expressionless. Though, it didn’t take long for a smile to appear, causing his eyes to turn into crescents, and the two started giggling together.

Just like that, Jisung and Minho continued to chat for a bit. Learning more about each other and becoming more comfortable with each other. Eventually, Chan and Woojin returned to the living room (after having some much needed alone time together because they had both been too busy to really hang out recently) and Felix went into the middle of the room and got everyone’s attention. Jeongin ran back over to sit next to Jisung, on the side Minho wasn’t on obviously.

“Okay everyone, enough chatting. It’s time for the real party to begin,” Felix announced cheerily. Obviously, everyone was a little confused but all became clear when he held out what was hidden behind his back: a video game console. “It’s time for a Mario Kart tournament!”

-

Since there was nine of them, for the competition they divided into teams of three, chosen through chance by picking names out of a hat, each team participating in a grand prix (one player playing twice). The losing team would have to go to the closest convenience store and buy snacks for the other guests.

Team 1 consisted of Felix, Minho and Jisung. Team 2 had Seungmin, Hyunjin and Chan leaving Woojin, Jeongin and Changbin in Team 3. To everyone’s surprise, especially considering all the members had only met today, Team 3 took first place. Even more than that, everyone was shocked at how well Hyunjin played the game, landing Team 2 in second place. Thanks to some poorly timed blue shells, Team 1 was in third place meaning they would have the penalty.

The team in question were on their way to the closest convenience store, which was only a five minute walk away, with everyone’s orders to fulfill their punishment.

“I’m telling you, if it wasn’t for those shells we would’ve won first place,” Felix grumbled, annoyed he had lost his own tournament.

“It’s okay Felix, we can have a rematch later and show them who’s the best,” Jisung suggested in an attempt to make the boy feel better about the loss.

“Don’t lie to protect his feelings, we all know Felix’s terrible driving was the reason we lost,” Minho accused, easily avoiding Felix’s fist as he attempted to hit his cousin.

“My terrible driving?” Felix scoffed, “I wasn’t the one who landed in 8th in my race.”

“Hey! That was only because of that blue shell I got in the second lap!” the elder defended, getting slightly heated, “You have no excuse for coming in 5th! Who even falls into bananas while playing Mario Kart.”

“Even professional players don’t see those peels sometimes!”

Jisung just laughed watching the two bicker, it was very amusing being an outsider watching it. He finally understood why Felix enjoyed watching him and Jeongin interact so much. Eventually, he decided to speak up.

“You were both great, everyone was just really good with their items.”

“Says the person who came in 1st in both their races,” Minho pointed out sarcastically, “How were you so good?”

“Right? One of your maps was even Rainbow Road and you didn’t even fall off once!” Felix exclaimed, curious of the boy’s secrets.

“I’m not that good,” Jisung insisted, “I just played it a lot with Jeongin so I know the courses well. Did you guys never play it together?”

“We may be cousins but we only met recently,” Minho explained, draping his arm over Felix.

“Really? I would’ve never guessed.”

“You can thank Chan for that,” Felix responded, “I was friends with him since birth in my hometown. When he moved here he happened to become Minho’s neighbour and when I moved here we all hung out because of him.”

Jisung let out a little ‘ah’ in understanding, remembering what Felix had said briefly before.

“I’m not that close with my neighbours, you two must’ve got along when you first met.”

“No way,” Minho denied immediately, laughing recalling his memories of meeting the older, “He was just really insistent. Probably fell in love at first sight, I am that irresistible.”

The other two just burst into uncontrollable laughter, while Minho tried to convince the two that was exactly what had happened by pointing out various things Chan had done.

“Whatever you want to believe,” Felix commented, still laughing.

The three continued chatting like that happily until they reached the convenience store, where they picked up all the snacks that had been asked of them (as well as some for themselves) then headed back to Felix’s house.

It wasn’t long after they came back that everyone had devoured the snacks and then prepared to leave. Starting with Seungmin and Hyunjin, then Jeongin and Jisung followed by Woojin and Chan who stopped somewhere else on the way home. Minho soon left after them then finally Changbin.

Soon after Jisung had arrived home, and after seeing Jeongin off, he received a notification on his phone.

[You have been added to a group chat ‘Felix, Changbin, Minho, + 5 more’]

Felix: Seungmin can you add Hyunjin? I don’t have his number  
Seungmin: Sure.

[Hyunjin has been added]

Felix: Thanks!  
Changbin: Whats this?  
Felix: I thought about what Chan said earlier and I just wanted to make a gc with everyone ^_^  
Felix: Plus everyone being together today was fun  
Felix: And I want a rematch at mario kart >_<

[Hyunjin left]

Felix: T_T

[Hyunjin has been added]

Seungmin: Just mute it if you don’t care about it.  
Hyunjin: I don’t want it on my phone

[Hyunjin left]

[Hyunjin has been added]

Seungmin: I can do this all night.  
Hyunjin: We’re both going to be very tired tomorrow then

[Hyunjin left]

Seungmin: I’ll talk to him later, this is probably just spamming everyone.  
Felix: Don’t force him if he doesn’t want to!  
Seungmin: He’s just being stubborn don’t worry.  
Felix: @Chan @Minho @Woojin @Jisung @Jeongin Talk! I don’t want this to flop >_<  
Minho: Chan and Woojin probably wont see this for a while  
Felix: Oh right  
Jeongin: Hi!  
Jisung: whatup  
Minho: whatup? really?  
Jeongin: stop pretending to be cool  
Seungmin: Jisung, spaces exist for a reason.  
Jisung: I just wrote 1 msg why is everyone picking on me TT  
Minho: because it’s fun  
Jeongin: because you deserve it  
Seungmin: I was just pointing out your poor spelling.  
Felix: I thought it was cool! :)  
Changbin: Same  
Jisung: you two are my only allies in this world  
Jisung: even my Innie has abandoned me TT  
Minho: dramatic much  
Jisung: says you

Jisung didn’t even notice he was staring at his phone with the biggest grin possible as he exchanged messages with everyone. He was really glad he had a friend like Jeongin to drag him there, and that he had bumped into Minho at that time causing him to stay. The obvious downside was that Hyunjin was there but shockingly he just acted like he didn’t exist, and so did Jisung. However, he got to meet so many people that he genuinely liked and wanted to get to know better. 

Maybe it was all a predetermined fate like Chan had said, or maybe it was just a bunch of coincidences but something just told him that the people he met that day would turn into relationships that would last a lifetime.

For once, his mind was quiet and his heart was able to do the talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Honestly, I can never tell whether what I write is good or not so hopefully you guys think it's alright.
> 
> I'm really excited for what's going to happen after this point so I hope you anticipate the future chapters!
> 
> Until the next one~


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated birthday to Minho <3
> 
> Reminder! This story is strictly fictional and SKZ members are only used as a base for the characters.

For as long as Jisung could remember, he had never been fond of going out. Sure, on the way home from school he’d stop off at Brewsters occasionally with Jeongin but usually when he hung out with his friend it was at either of their houses. It wasn’t that he disliked being around his friends he just preferred being in the comfort of his own (or his friend’s own) house. However, in the past several weeks that had changed.

It was now June, almost two months since everyone had first met. Since Felix made that group chat they had all been talking regularly, and frequently met up on the weekends. This weekend was no different.

“Sweetie, where are you going this late?” Jisung’s mother asked when she saw him in the hallway putting his shoes on ready to leave the house.

“I told you earlier this week, I’m going to a movie premiere with friends then I’m going to stay at Jeongin’s place,” Jisung responded, slightly irritated at his mother’s forgetfulness. It passed within a moment though.

The plan for this weekend had been made quite early when the news of a highly anticipated horror movie was announced to be premiering this Saturday. Seungmin was the first to suggest to go watch it and everyone else had quickly agreed, aside from Chan and Woojin who were busy with university assignments. Since the premiere was quite late and Jeongin lived a lot closer to the cinema, he just decided to stay round at his house as he had done many times before because it was easier.

“Oh, of course. Have a nice time and be safe,” she reminded caringly.

“Bye mum!” Jisung called out behind him as he left his house.

-

Once Jisung arrived at the agreed meeting location he immediately spotted Jeongin, Felix and Changbin who had already arrived.

“Of course you’re late,” Jeongin stated, unsurprised at the elder’s tardiness.

“Late but not the last one here,” Jisung pointed out triumphantly.

“If you were later than Minho the universe would be out of balance,” Felix commented.

“You’re not wrong about that,” Jisung agreed, laughing at the remark.

“Speak of the devil,” Changbin piped up, as he saw Minho approaching them.

“Great! Now we can go eat!” Jeongin announced, not even leaving time for everyone to greet the late comer.

Even though Seungmin was the one to suggest the outing, he and Hyunjin weren’t meeting everyone until later at the cinema. The rest of the group wanted to go get some food first and so they had planned to meet up earlier and get something quick and affordable.

They all walked into the pre-decided fast food restaurant, after their short walk filled with various small talk, and ordered their food. After receiving their orders, they walked over to a booth in the corner of the restaurant, Jisung and Jeongin sitting on one side of it leaving Minho and Felix to sit on the other side with Changbin wedged in the middle.

“So, what’s this movie about?” Changbin asked, “I didn’t have time to watch the trailer.”

“It’s about a doll that’s possessed, you know standard horror movie about a creepy doll,” Minho explained, taking a bite of his burger once he finished his sentence. 

“Dolls really freak me out,” Felix admitted, fear causing his voice to sound more serious than usual. He wasn’t one for horror movies in general but dolls were particularly creepy to him.

“Me too,” Jeongin agreed, “Just the fact they look similar to people but are so lifeless.”

At his own words Jeongin couldn’t help but shudder a little.

“It’s okay, I’ll be there to protect you,” Jisung teased, smiling at the younger. Even if it was a joke, Jeongin couldn’t help but give an appreciative smile back.

“You protect Jeongin? You’re definitely the type to be cowering in fear the moment you hear a noise when you’re alone in the house,” Minho joked playfully.

“Jisung actually really likes horror,” Jeongin defended him, which was good because although Jisung did enjoy the thrill of watching horror movies he couldn’t argue that he freaked out and hid in his room when he was home alone and heard a noise he wasn’t familiar with.

“Wow,” Minho exclaimed, “I would’ve never guessed that.”

Jisung just gave a triumphant ‘hmph’ and went back to eating his meal. Minho returned it with an eye roll and also brought his attention back to his own food. The rest continued to discuss the movie, making a list of everything they expected to see in it. Thinking up an idea, Jisung was about to add to the conversation when a certain someone picked up his drink and took a sip from it.

“Minho!” Jisung shouted, snatching his drink back from the older’s grasp.

“What? I just wanted to try it,” Minho stated simply, “I got something else and what you got looked good.”

“Then buy your own one!” Jisung argued.

“Sharing is caring,” Minho retaliated, his lips forming into a smug smirk that Jisung had become very familiar with in the past 2 months. It showed whenever Minho felt victorious in his teasing or he made some Minho-like comment.. 

“If you say so.” Jisung reached over to Minho’s food and picked up a few of his chips, quickly putting them in his mouth before the owner of the food could stop him.

“Hey! A drink is one thing but you don’t mess with someone’s food,” Minho declared. Jisung just let his mouth form into an innocent smile pointed directly at Minho.

“Sharing is caring,” Jisung mimicked cheekily. He could see Minho get ever so slightly irritated at his own remark being thrown back at him which made Jisung feel great considering how often Minho would poke fun at him. 

Somehow these actions had escalated and a so called ‘food war’ had started. The two boys were desperately trying to defend their own food while attempting to grab as many items of the other’s meal as they could. All while bickering semi-seriously, spilling dipping sauces and losing some chips to the floor. Changbin, Felix and Jeongin just laughed as they watched the two behave in a way that was extremely childish but amusing to the outsiders.

“Those two are hopeless,” Changbin commented, his voice filled with a hint of adoration. The other two just nodded in agreement, continuing to watch and laugh as the two ate more of each others meals than their own.

-

“You got ketchup on my shirt,” Jisung whined, staring at the fresh stain on his flannel shirt.

“And you got mayonnaise on mine but you don’t see me complaining,” Minho retaliated.

“This would’ve never happened if you didn’t take my drink.”

“It was one sip!” Minho exclaimed exasperatedly, taken aback by how Jisung wouldn’t let it go, “Why do you care so much?”

Actually, it hadn’t even occurred to Jisung to consider why he was so annoyed by it, he would let Jeongin do it all the time. They had known each other for a while so it wasn’t like they were strangers, he would happily offer his drink or food to anyone in their little group (aside from Hyunjin but he’s an exception). Minho taking a sip from his drink should have been perfectly fine but, for some reason unknown to him, Jisung couldn’t calm down and say that the action was ‘just fine’.

“Okay, time for you guys to stop your bickering. We’re here,” Changbin announced. 

Like planned, they had headed to the cinemas straight after eating. Once they were inside the venue they saw Hyunjin and Seungmin waiting for them inside. Minho immediately decided to drop the topic, as it wasn’t a big deal, but Jisung couldn’t help but keep the thoughts that kept questioning his actions at the back of his head.

When they met up inside they all immediately headed to get some snacks for the movie. Changbin, Felix and Minho decided they didn’t want anything due to the stupidly high prices so they went into the screen before the rest. After getting the snacks, Seungmin decided he wanted to go to the toilet before the movie and naturally Hyunjin followed him leaving Jeongin and Jisung to make their way to their seats first.

Once they had all finally gathered the seating arrangement naturally ended up like this: Changbin then Felix, followed by Minho, Jisung, Jeongin and Seungmin with Hyunjin on the aisle seat. As always, they talked to each other until the adverts begun and still talked a little while those were on but everyone quietened down once the trailers signalling the movie would begin soon.

Despite what Minho said about not wanting food, he was constantly reaching for Jisung’s popcorn, maybe in an act of rebellion due to their actions at the restaurant or maybe just because it was natural to reach over to the snack that was right next to him. This time however, Jisung wasn’t annoyed at all; if anything he was happy about it. Every so often their hands would accidentally touch and out of habit Jisung would whisper a ‘sorry’ but Minho would just respond by giving him a quick, reassuring smile then turn his attention back to the movie. Since he met Minho that was something that was always help him relax when he was around him.

The movie finally began and it didn’t take long for everyone to start clinging to the others out of fear. Hyunjin had fully wrapped himself around Seungmin, still looking at the screen but screaming every time a jump scare happened and somehow managing to get closer to his friend every time (Seungmin however was completely unphased). Felix was in a similar position with Changbin but in his case he was burying his face into the elder’s chest, barely even watching the movie - every time he tried to look at the screen again his head would just return to its original place. In an attempt to comfort Felix, Changbin was trying his best to act like he wasn’t scared but he couldn’t help but let out a yelp whenever something terrifying happened.

Jeongin had his hands gripped on Jisung’s shirt, ready to hide his head whenever anything scary happened. Protectively, Jisung put his arm around the younger’s shoulders but he himself found himself sub-consciously clinging to Minho, although it was just around his arm rather than his entire torso like the others. Of course, Minho was fine with it and he himself had his free hand on top of where Jisung’s lay on his arm, for both himself and Jisung. At certain parts of the movie the two would jump closer to each other, taking their mind off of the film for a few seconds before turning their attention back to the movie. If it wasn’t for the arm rest, Jisung would’ve practically been on top of Minho by the end of the film (while still trying to reach over Jeongin’s shoulders which lead to him being dragged a little).

“That movie was so scary!” Felix was the first to speak after the movie ended and they all met up outside their screen.

“You found that scary?” Hyunjin scoffed as they began to walk towards the cinema’s exit.

“So did you, you screamed so loud it was like it was right next to my ear even though you were practically on the other side of the row,” Changbin pointed out jokingly.

“I-I was just trying to scare everyone else!” Hyunjin stuttered, embarrassed as he didn’t realise he was screaming that loudly.

“I’m sure they found it really terrifying when you clung to me and started to apologise for all the wrongs you had done in your life,” Seungmin teased, his eyes lighting up as he stared at his friend who was now blushing.

As the group continued to walk on and tease Hyunjin (finding this new side of him adorably different to the usual way Hyunjin acted), Jisung stopped and tugged on Minho’s shirt to slow him down as well. The boy immediately turned around and gave the younger his full attention.

“What’s up?” Minho asked curiously.

“It’s just…” Jisung began but he was quickly interrupted.

“This isn’t about the popcorn is it? I swear you’re so petty-”

“It’s not about the popcorn!” Jisung interjected swiftly, though his tone shifted to a softer one with his next sentence, “I just wanted to ask… if you were okay with me clinging onto you like that.”

Minho was completely perplexed by the younger’s question.

“Why wouldn’t I have been? I was even initiating it a bit myself,” Minho pointed ou.

“I know, I know… we were just pretty close.”

“Do you not like being that close with me?” Minho inquired, the sincerity of the question hidden behind a teasing manner.

“T-that’s not it!” Jisung denied, flustered as usual by Minho’s comments. Minho couldn’t help but tease him so much, whenever he stuttered like that he was just so undeniably cute to him.

“Are you guys coming?” Felix called out after Jisung and Minho, who were now a significant distance away from the rest.

“Yeah, just now,” Minho informed, turning to Jisung and placing his arm around his shoulders while pulling him in closer so there was barely a gap between the two. “Shall we go then?”

“Yeah!” Jisung replied cheerily, feeling at peace thanks to the elder. 

Jisung had noticed it since he first met Minho but he always felt comfortable with him. There wasn’t the same nervousness that he had around most other people (the only exceptions being those that were really close to him). Although there was still some kind of nervousness, it didn’t make him uncomfortable.

Maybe it was his kind eyes that turned into half crescents whenever he laughed at what Jisung would do or say. Maybe it was the way he would just sit and listen to him when he rambled on about something silly. Maybe it was the way he’d tease him which would let Jisung take his mind off all the questions and worries that were constantly in his head. Or maybe it was his caring, gentle smile he’d always give to Jisung when he was trying to reassure him of something.

Whatever it was, Jisung felt safe with Minho.

-

Since the movie had ended, the group had split off going their separate ways. Minho had gone first saying there was some place he had to go visit and ran off before anyone could ask him follow up questions. Next it was Changbin and Felix who lived in the same direction and so they went home together. 

When left with just Hyunjin, Seungmin, Jeongin and Jisung the air had become so tense you could cut it with a knife. It was only thanks to Seungmin and Jeongin’s conversation that the experience could be even a little bit bearable. Luckily, the four of them soon split in half, each going their respective ways.

It didn’t take long for the duo to reach Jeongin’s house, heading inside and both of them greeting Jeongin’s parents before heading up to his room. Jisung had stayed round so often that he felt like it was his second home, so they naturally slipped into their routine of ‘getting ready for bed’ then proceeding to set up the room ready for movie watching and video game playing all night. With a blanket wrapped around the two on Jeongin’s bed, and his end table dragged to the middle of his bed to be used as a stand for the TV, the likely sleepless night began.

Jisung was setting up the game console for the first round of video games they were going to play when a thought came to Jeongin.

“Hey, Jisung,” the younger began, which Jisung answered with a hum being too focused on putting the correct cables in the right spots, “We keep hanging out at my house lately, why don’t we do something at your house this week?”

At his question, Jisung froze for a second before continuing with the task at hand. He was hoping Jeongin hadn’t noticed his recent insistence at going to his house instead of his own. Somehow, he became scared to invite Jeongin round - worried he may notice something he really didn’t want him to. Something he’d surely ask questions about and try to help because that was just who he was but it wasn’t what Jisung wanted right now.

“Are you sick of me coming round?” Jisung laughed nervously, attempting to use humour to deflect Jeongin’s curious mind and avoiding eye contact at all costs.

“A little,” Jeongin jokes back, “But I just thought you have a larger collection of stuff than me so it would be a nice change of pace. You used to insist I go to yours for that very reason!”

“I did not, if I have something you want to play or watch I can just bring it round here next time,” Jisung responded, having now finished his task but still trying to look busy so he didn’t have to show his friend his face. He knew if he did Jeongin would be able to tell something was wrong, and Jisung wasn’t ready to tell him.

“Wouldn’t that be a hassle though?”

“Not at all,” Jisung returned, mustering up the courage to turn around and hand his friend the controller, “All set up and ready to go!”

Maybe it was because he noticed he was acting weird or because he was oblivious and just got distracted by video games but, Jeongin didn’t push the topic further. Instead they started to play the fighting game they had played together since release, always keeping score to this day of who how many wins each other had.

“Another win for me!” Jisung announced triumphantly, holding his controller in the air and doing a little victory dance.

“I only lost because someone caused me to pull a muscle in my neck earlier and I can’t look over properly at one side of the screen!” Jeongin accused, “If you wanted to cuddle with Minho you could’ve spared me.”

“I didn’t want to cuddle with him! The movie just scared me a little and I ended up jumping in his direction,” Jisung defended, his face flushed a light shade of pink.

“Wow Minho’s right, you’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Jisung used the opportunity to playfully tackle his friend on the bed in mock anger. Frantically, Jeongin tried to get free of the elder’s grip but he wouldn’t let him escape that easily after what he had just said. Jisung may not have done much exercise but he was definitely strong enough to hold Jeongin.

After Jisung had gotten his revenge and Jeongin had teased him a little more thinking his current situation couldn’t get any worse, the two broke apart again. A few seconds passed before Jeongin decided to say something that would change the mood yet again.

“Aren’t you glad we went to Felix’s house that day?”

“Yeah… I am,” Jisung answered immediately, his mischievous grin from before turning into a softer smile, “Thank you for persuading me.”

“I’m just glad you found people you can be your true self around. More people deserve to see the real you who’s amazing,” Jeongin stated warmly.

“I’m happy too, I feel really comfortable around everyone. They’re all so kind as well,” Jisung agreed, “Except Hyunjin.”

“You know you should give him a chance, he’s been warming up to everyone lately and he seems quite nice,” the younger pointed out to which Jisung just scoffed, “Plus you got to become close with your beloved Minho.”

“He’s not my beloved Minho!” Jisung defended, “It’s just…”

Honestly, Jisung was a little hesitant to say what he wanted to say. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jeongin - he trusted him more than anyone in the world and he would tell him everything and anything. He just didn’t want to bother his dear friend with useless information.

“It’s just what?” Jeongin prompted, giving his friend a smile as if to say ‘It’s okay, go ahead and say what you want’, and placing his hand on his shoulder as if to reaffirm that meaning. There’s no way Jisung wouldn’t let all his thoughts about the current situation to spill out.

“I really have grown to like everyone a lot. I have so much fun with everyone and I’m so glad I met them but with Minho it’s slightly different,” Jisung explained, gaining more confidence with every word, “It’s not like the way you’re teasing about it’s just I feel so… okay when I’m around him?”

“Okay?” the younger questioned curiously.

“Yeah, it’s just. So you know I struggle a lot with anxiety,” Jisung began to which Jeongin nodded in understanding, “When I’m with you I feel secure because I know you and you know me, you know? With everyone else I’m still a bit wary - not because I want to be but because I just don’t understand them all that well yet.”

“You don’t need to defend yourself about it, I understand what it’s like for you,” Jeongin reassured which made Jisung feel a bit more at ease, “So Minho?”

“With Minho… all my nerves and worries and fears they’re still there but… It’s like with one simple gesture or one word or one sentence or laugh or anything they’re instantly buried?”

“I’m happy for you,” Jeongin commented, his tone bittersweet, “I’m glad you could find someone like that for you.”

Sensing his tone, Jisung could understand what the younger was thinking. Of course Jeongin was being sincere with his words but he had his own worries after hearing what Jisung had said.

“Don’t worry Innie!” Jisung exclaimed, wrapping his friend into a hug, “You’re always going to be my closest friend.”

“There’s no escaping you is there?” Jeongin asked jokingly, trying to hide how happy the words Jisung had just said had made him. It failed though, his tone didn’t have a hint of annoyance in it.

“Nope!”

Jisung tightened his grip around his friend and the two just laughed joyfully together. The two continued their night filled with more rounds of video games and binge watching a series Jisung just had to show Jeongin. Time happily flew by until the sun had risen and the two had spent the whole night awake, as they expected to.

It was days like this Jisung really appreciated his friend. His best friend. One day he was going to tell him everything he wanted to, all the things he was scared of sharing even though there was no reason to be.

Plus, now it wasn’t just them. They had a group of friends that honestly enjoyed each other’s company and had lots of fun just by being around each other. People who they could feel safe around, like they could really be their true selves around. 

That wasn’t just true for Jisung. Or for Jeongin. But for all nine of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Just to let you all know pacing wise where all this is, between this chapter and the next there's another decent time skip and it's when everything really starts developing.   
Please anticipate it, I'm really excited for the rest of this story~


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone it's been a while!  
These beginning notes are gonna be quite long so if you want to skip and go straight to reading the chapter that's perfectly fine but I felt the need to talk about some things here before going into the next chapter.  
Most importantly, this is the first chapter release since the announcement about Jisung has come out and I felt the need to say some things about it as the Jisung in this story has similar symptoms. I just want to clarify that I'm in no way trying to undermine actual Jisung's mental health state: anxiety is a real issue that shouldn't be taken lightly and although it shouldn't change how you think of someone it also shouldn't be ignored. I also want to say I wasn't trying to imply he had it before and as always I'm not trying to project the images of the Stray Kids members in this story onto them in real life. Even though this is a fanfic about Stray Kids I'd appreciate if you could completely separate the Stray Kids in this story and the Stray Kids in real life :)  
Sorry if that felt unnecessary but as someone who also suffers from anxiety and cares so much about Jisung I didn't want to not talk about it quickly. Please love and support Han and the rest of SKZ as you always have and will do <3
> 
> Also as I deleted the announcement I just wanted to clarify that of course Woojin will be staying in this story!
> 
> Finally, from this chapter on I'll be adding Trigger Warnings because, although nothing gets too extreme, there may be topics that some people may find quite sensitive. I'll try my best to include them in the tags though as well!
> 
> Anyway, I'll leave anything else I have left to say to the end of the chapter, the beginning of this chapter is kind of a word vomit of explanation but I really wanted to move on from the filler-y type stuff so I hope you all enjoy anyway!!
> 
> TW //  
Mentions of homophobia

It was the last week in August, which was also the first week of the second term. They were lucky enough to get a long Summer Break to enjoy but, sadly, it was now back to their usual routine.

It goes without saying that throughout the break, the group of nine continued to hang out with each other - whether all nine of them were there or not - and had only become closer. Finally getting a break from assignments for a bit, Chan and Woojin were able to come along more often meaning everyone was able to get to know them better. Chan, Jisung and Changbin had really hit it off, finding out they had similar music tastes, so they had naturally gravitated together. 

Surprisingly, Jeongin had become extremely close with Seungmin and Hyunjin, the two older boys finding joy in the younger’s mannerisms. Jisung had mixed feelings about that, no matter how much Jeongin insisted Hyunjin was actually a nice person, but he and Hyunjin had made an almost unspoken pact that they just wouldn’t acknowledge each other’s existence.

Somehow, as the eldest members of their group and Jeongin being the youngest, Chan and Woojin had become protective over Jeongin. They were always acting like the responsible adults they were supposed to be with everyone, but Jeongin seemed to be their top pick to dote on. No one could blame them though (everyone else did the same).

Of course, Felix was close with everyone which just left Minho. As always, Minho was close with Chan and Felix but he had become increasingly closer with Jisung (and naturally Jeongin) since they had met. However, that was actually Jisung’s current problem.

In the recent months that had passed, especially with the amount of times they saw each other, Jisung had found that he was incredibly aware of Minho’s presence. When they were out he’d find himself sub-consciously looking at the older boy and when they were messaging in the group chat he’d anxiously wait for Minho to chime in to the conversation. If Minho said he couldn’t go somewhere Jisung found himself disappointed despite the fact that they saw each other so often and they could message whenever they wanted.

These subtle things had continued to get stronger, making him feel weird around Minho. So, he did what any logical person would do: avoid the person in question as much as he could. Jisung had thought he’d become too dependant on Minho since it was true he felt safe when he was around him, therefore he decided distancing himself would help these feelings to disappear. 

Luckily, Minho and Jisung were in different years and different floors so it was hard for them to bump into each other by coincidence. The issue came at lunch time, when Minho would often join Jeongin and Jisung (and sometimes the other four students at the school if they were around) to eat. Nevertheless, that situation could be avoided since Jisung and Jeongin always had packed lunches and they could be eaten in the classroom.

Jisung was safe for now. Or at least that’s what he thought.

“Jeongin, is it okay if we eat in the classroom today?” Jisung asked once he was at his friend’s desk after their lesson had ended.

“If you had actually paid attention in class, you would know that the class reps have to go to a meeting,” Jeongin responded, packing up his stuff ready to head off to the aforementioned meeting.

“Oh right, I forget you’re the class rep sometimes,” Jisung stated, slightly embarrassed at his lack of interest in that part of his friend’s life.

“Why do you want to eat in here anyway?” Jeongin questioned curiously. As far as he could remember, they never ate in the classroom. Jisung had always complained about how he would suffocate if he had to stay in that stuffy room all day.

“New term, thought it would be a nice change of pace,” Jisung quickly thought up an excuse which seemed believable. Jeongin just nodded in understanding, probably not caring too much about the situation.

“You could eat with Seungmin and Hyunjin,” Jeongin suggested, trying to be helpful. Felix always darted out of the room immediately once the break began so he was out of the question. Jisung liked Seungmin, really, it’s just that he was always with Hyunjin and no one needed a reminder about what their relationship was like.

“It’s okay. Go off to your meeting,” the older urged, waving to his friend as he left the room.

It was time for Jisung to think up a Plan B. He decided his best bet would be to look for Felix or Changbin and figure it out from there: if he ate alone in the classroom he would have to worry about the non-existent stares from his classmates which his mind couldn’t help but think about, and if he ate alone in the cafeteria he would surely run into Minho. Despite wanting to stay away from the cafeteria for the previously mentioned reason, that was his best bet for finding the blonde and black haired boys. So, that’s where he went.

Once he arrived at the cafeteria he quickly walked through, scanning the tables trying to spot the signs of his friends - including Minho to make sure he wasn’t seen by him. He had walked all the way to the other side of the cafeteria near the doors leading to the outside area with no luck. 

However, it was then that he saw a familiar brunette walk through the door.  
Jisung felt his heart twinge at the sight of Minho, freezing for a second before remembering he was supposed to be avoiding him. 

Without knowing whether or not Minho had actually seen him, Jisung darted out through the doors he was close to - which lead to the outside area. He wasn’t sure if just going outside was enough, so he decided to go to a semi-desolate area of the school. It was very rare that people came to this part, Jisung had discovered it one day when he was trying to hide from the world as he often needed to when he was overwhelmed and just needed some space to himself. What he wasn’t expecting was to see the very two boys he was looking for in that exact location.

“Hey Felix, Changbin,” Jisung called out, happily surprised at finding just who he was looking for, before realising something about the two of them. They were close. Really close. That wouldn’t have been abnormal if it wasn’t for the fact that they were so close their lips were pressed against each others. 

Instantly, Jisung wanted to take back his greeting - wishing he had taken a few more seconds to understand the situation - but it was too late. At registering their names the two boys hurriedly broke apart and looked in Jisung’s direction. 

“Jisung…” Felix was the first to say but it soon turned into an extremely uncomfortable silence, everyone not knowing how to start a conversation (or what to even talk about). It was too late to pretend Jisung hadn’t seen anything, that he had just thought they were talking as always or something along those lines.

“Do you gu-” Jisung began but was suddenly cut off.

“We’re dating,” Felix blurted before he could realise what he was saying. Changbin swiftly turned his head towards Felix, his eyes wide at what Felix had just announced.

“Hey!” Changbin yelled angrily.

“He saw, we might as well tell him,” Felix reasoned, “it’s not like he’s a stranger.”

Changbin quickly admitted defeat, understanding that they would’ve had to tell Jisung no matter what. He knew Felix was right, how else were they going to explain the situation? It’s not everyday you walk in on two friends kissing each other.

Throughout this interaction Jisung was taken aback. Sure, he knew Felix and Changbin were close but… dating? He thought he was close to both of them but clearly not if they hadn’t told him. Definitely not if he couldn’t even tell they liked each other.

“How long?” Jisung managed to ask, his voice hesitant. As the couple had already told him the most important detail, they felt like there was no point in hiding the rest.

“Since May,” Changbin replied, trying to avoid both Jisung and Felix’s gaze as much as possible - although it was unclear whether it was because of embarrassment or guilt.

“Wait, were you a couple before we all met at Felix’s house?”

“No, it was after that,” Felix answered this time. Jisung let out a sound to let them know he understood and then the silence from before came back.

“Well, this is great news! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Jisung inquired, trying to bring back the usual enthusiastic energy the three had when they were together. This wasn’t something that should be so shocking but for some reason… it was.

“You’re the only person who knows,” Felix started cautiously, “We didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Why not?”

“Our parents… well they’re both…”

“They’re homophobic,” Changbin interjected without any hesitance. It was Felix’s turn to look at his partner in bewilderment. “Hey you’re the one who spilled it first, we might as well tell him everything. Jisung’s our friend and we trust him.”

“You’re right,” Felix sighed in defeat, preparing to explain the full story to Jisung.

Felix and Changbin then began to tell Jisung the real story about everything. What Jisung had been told when he first met Changbin was all true - about how Changbin took Felix to the nurse’s office and they just kind of hit it off. They just missed out the part where they had grown an attraction for one another. Actually, they were both very aware of it since the moment they met but with both their parents not being comfortable with that type of relationship they were worried about actually taking their relationship in that direction.

However, thanks to meeting everyone else and hanging out with them they discovered this wasn’t just an attraction that was going to go away - they had really fallen for each other and it wasn’t something they could stop anymore. Felix ended up making the first move and eventually they decided to go out but keep it a secret. Their parents may be close-minded but that didn’t change the fact that they were the people who raised them. They didn’t want to disappoint them.

Over the summer they had realised they were both serious about this relationship, despite the fact they were still only in high school. Felix and Changbin had a talk and decided that they would tell their parents after they both had graduated high school, to prove their relationship wasn’t a hindrance and hopefully be accepted.

“Wow…” Jisung barely whispered after they had finished explaining. Both Felix and Changbin had bittersweet expressions on their faces.

“We wanted to tell everyone, honestly,” Felix explained, his voice begging Jisung to believe him, “We know we could trust you guys, it's just the more people who know the more likely our parents will. Especially Chan and Minho who I wanted to tell more than anyone in the world.”

Changbin nodded silently, placing his arm around Felix in an act of protection - even though the ‘danger’ in this case was his own feelings. He knew that Felix keeping this from them was a lot harder for him than for himself as he had only recently met everyone. Jisung knew it too, he understood how hard it was for someone who cared about his friends as much as Felix did to keep something this important a secret.

“It’s okay, I believe you,” Jisung confirmed, “Thank you for telling me all this.”

“Well you found out anyway…” the oldest muttered, “How can you not read a situation!”

“I’m sorry! I was looking for you guys and had my own stuff going on so I wasn’t thinking,” Jisung explained despite Changbin’s statement being a joke to try and brighten the mood.

“It’s okay. Honestly, being able to tell someone is kind of refreshing,” Changbin assured him, Felix giving a hum in agreement. “I’m sure you wouldn't but, you won’t tell anyone right?”

“Of course not!” Jisung answered immediately, “You guys are my precious friends who have helped me a lot in the few months I’ve known you, I would never do anything that could hurt you both in any way. Plus, this is your business not mine - it’s not my right to go telling people.”

At that moment, the two relaxed significantly, their appreciation for their friend at full capacity. Felix ended up tackling Jisung into a hug, which Changbin joined.

“Thank you,” Felix said, his voice filled with various emotions that couldn’t all be recognised. However, there was one emotion that was definitely present: happiness.

-

A couple of days had passed since Jisung had discovered Felix and Changbin’s relationship but nothing had changed. They all acted the same as they always had, well except for Jisung’s insistence on continuing to avoid Minho that is. Somehow he was still able to avoid Minho, thanks to Jeongin agreeing to eat in the classroom for the days since his meeting.

Once again it was the lunch break, this time Jeongin has insisted they go to the cafeteria as during yesterday's lunch break he accidentally spilled some of his lunch on to his work book. Not being able to refuse his best friend - Jisung couldn’t help but curse at his adorableness sometimes - the two were on their way to the cafeteria now. It was only when they had come up to the entrance of the crowded room that Jisung had spotted Minho sitting with Changbin and his mind went into panic mode.

“Jeongin, I think I forgot something in the classroom you should go ahead,” Jisung announced suddenly, cutting off whatever Jeongin was saying about how the homework they were set today was too much. 

“But you have your lunch, what did you forget?” Jeongin asked.

“Oh just… something,” Jisung failed horribly at coming up with something even semi-believable. However, before Jeongin could argue Jisung was already waving him off and heading in the opposite direction. 

His actions had been a spur of the moment decision so he wasn’t completely sure what he was planning to do once he made it back to the classroom. However, as he came up to the classroom he bumped into Felix, who was on his way out of the room after briefly talking with Seungmin and Hyunjin.

“Jisung, weren’t you going to the cafeteria with Jeongin?” Felix questioned when he came across the brunette.

“Ah, I just forgot something,” Jisung laughed nervously, which Felix obviously didn’t buy.

“Is something wrong? You know you can tell me right?” Felix tried, not wanting to force his friend of course but also wanting to help him if he could. “Does this have anything to do with the situation you mentioned before?”

Having completely forgotten mentioning that when he had discovered the love birds, Jisung was taken aback. Felix always seemed to be incredibly perceptive in times like these but extremely. Not wanting to lie to his friend that had confided in him only a couple days ago, Jisung slowly nodded in agreement.

“Can we go somewhere else?” Jisung asked sheepishly, as they were still in a very busy hallway and it wasn’t exactly the place to have a conversation like this.

The two found a quiet place outside the main building where they could have their talk with no interruptions. On the way there the two had walked in silence, which continued upon arriving at the destination. It was Felix who prompted Jisung first to explain what was going on.

“So, what’s up Jisungie?”

“Well… it’s about Minho,” Jisung began, “This is probably me just making a big deal out of nothing but I’ve become very aware of him.”

“Aware?” Felix repeated.

“I just think I’ve become too dependent on him being around,” Jisung explained, skipping a lot of details he found embarrassing like how he would find himself staring at him sometimes or want to be closer to him. 

“And that’s a bad thing?” Felix half-joked, not understanding where the problem was but also not wanting to undermine his friend’s feelings.

“I just don’t want to bother him. You know, hang out without having to be so distracted by him I guess,” Jisung attempted to clarify but not being able to put his thoughts into words. To be honest he wasn’t completely sure why he was avoiding him, just that all of his senses were telling him to stay away.

Felix looked like he was itching to say something but he wasn’t completely sure if he should cross the line. Instead he sat for a few seconds thinking before finally deciding what to say.

“These are your feelings so I’m not going to try to tell you how to feel,” he began, “but I can assure you Minho will never be bothered by you. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this but he adores you.”

“He does not!” Jisung denied frantically, but the statement secretly made him really happy - which Felix could probably tell even if he didn’t say. “Anyway, I know Minho would never say I was a bother it’s just something I feel like I have to do for things to return to normal. I was planning to just let it pass but you kind of caught me.”

Normal was all Jisung really wanted - a sense of stability that he didn’t have to worry about wavering or changing. Whatever he was feeling to Minho was ruining that and it’s probably why his mind wouldn’t stop telling him to run away. He just wanted everything to be… normal.

“Well I hope you know you can talk to me no matter how small a problem you think it is,” Felix assured, “But in this case I really don’t think avoiding him is the answer.”

“You’re probably right, I just don’t know what to do,” Jisung admitted. Once again Felix thought for a few seconds before he had a light bulb moment, a huge (and slightly mischievous) grin appearing on his face.

Felix quickly stood up from the ledge the two were sitting on and grabbed Jisung by the arm, not giving Jisung any time to question what was happening. He then proceeded to drag his friend all the way to the cafeteria, switching between jogging and walking and ignoring Jisung’s constant cries and queries - only replying with the occasional ‘you’ll see’.

It was only when the two had found the table Jeongin, Changbin and Minho were sat at that Felix finally let go of Jisung.

“What took you so long, lunch is going to be over soon!” Jeongin was the first to speak, scooting over two places to make room for the two arrivals. To be honest Jisung hadn’t even considered that he hadn’t eaten yet - he was slightly preoccupied. Felix subtly pushed Jisung forward so that he was forced to take a seat first meaning he was parallel to Minho.

“Sorry, my fault! We met in the hallway and we got distracted talking,” Felix covered for Jisung, knowing he was still taking a second to process the fact he was sort of but not really kidnapped.

Jisung didn’t even realise the fact that Minho was staring at him until the person in question decided to add to the conversation.

“Hey,” the older greeted. It was just a simple greeting, no special emotion or intention to it but for some reason it made Jisung’s heart skip a beat and his head instantly snap up to meet the older’s gaze.

“Hi,” Jisung managed to return, getting slightly lost in Minho’s beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

Of course Jisung was the one who made the decision to intentionally avoid Minho and it was true that it had only been a few days since that decision was made. However, seeing Minho so close to him after that short amount of time for some reason took his breath away. Jisung didn’t want to break the moment, the moment that made it feel like years despite only being three days.

“We only saw each other a few days ago but for some reason it feels like it’s been a while,” Minho commented casually, not realising the affect such a nonchalant comment had on the younger. The fact it was so close to what Jisung was actually thinking - was it really just a coincidence? 

Minho just smiled, not knowing the mental overdrive he had caused Jisung to fall into, and joined the conversation the other three had started between themselves.

Jisung didn’t care about that though, he was too busy thinking. Was this really just a dependence on Minho? Would ‘dependence’ be able to explain the fluttering feeling he got when he saw Minho? Was this really all he was feeling? He’d never felt this before for anyone and it all lead to one final question.

What was this emotion he felt towards Minho?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry for the long wait, so much has happened.
> 
> I'm going to try and upload a new chapter every 2 weeks (usually on a Saturday) but I'll make an announcement if something happens and I'm no longer able to do that.
> 
> See you all next chapter!! <3


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting a day early because I'm not able to post tomorrow and the chapter was done already so there wasn't really a reason to wait~
> 
> I would just like to apologise in advance because I'm a sucker for cliches - there's going to be a lot in this story hehe
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Usual disclaimer: This is (obviously) separate to the real Stray Kids, the characters merely use the members as a base!

As the town Jisung lived in was quite small, there weren’t that many shops around. Sure the necessities were there but supermarkets didn’t always have what he needed. To get to some place where there was a wider selection of shops it usually required a 30 minute bus ride. However, upon discovering Woojin had a driving license, he and the others had taken full use of using him as a chauffeur when required. Today was one of those days.

Jeongin was actually the first one to ask, saying he needed to buy something related to being the class representative. Woojin had agreed and anywhere he went Chan would (usually) follow as well. Minho tagged along because he said he needed to check something where they were going and he’d appreciate a free ride. Finally, Jisung had just come along because he wanted to hang out with everyone which lead them to their current situation.

The five of them had made it to their destination and walked into the city centre.

“I’m going to go off to do my thing, what time should I meet you guys at the car?” Minho asked, anxious to go off to do whatever he had to.

“Jeongin, how long do you need?” Chan was the one to ask, taking control of organising everyone.

“Shouldn’t be long but as we’re here I want to make the most of it,” Jeongin thought before deciding on a final answer, “2 hours?”

“Okay, got that Minho?” Chan checked, turning his focus back onto him.

“Loud and clear,” Minho returned, gripping the bag he had brought with him and ready to run off.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Jisung blurted out, the feeling of wanting to stay with Minho taking over his usual thought process. 

“No, it’s fine. Have fun with everyone else,” Minho urged cheerily. With that he finally split off from the group and the rest started to organise where they all wanted to go while they were there.

If Jisung was being honest, Minho’s response had disappointed him. He wasn’t sure if it was the way Minho was so happy to send him off with other people and run off immediately or if it was the fact he wasn’t telling anyone what he was doing in the first place.

Suddenly, Jisung shook his head. He knew he was being ridiculous - that he himself had been actively trying to avoid Minho as much as possible a couple days ago and now he was getting hurt just because he told him to have fun without him. Still, realising that didn’t make what he was feeling go away.

“Don’t worry Jisung, he’ll tell you about it soon I’m sure,” Chan assured Jisung after seeing him lost in thought. Woojin and Jeongin were a little further ahead, happily chatting about some other topic.

“Wow I really hate how intuitive you are sometimes, do you know that?” Jisung joked, to which Chan just laughed in reply revealing his dimples, “Thanks Chan.”

-

The two hours had passed by, and the four were back at the car after a successful shopping trip. Jeongin had gotten what he needed, as well as some series that Jisung had previously recommended. Jisung also bought the DVD of a new movie that had come out recently and he was interested in - he would probably end up watching it with Jeongin later on. On the other hand, Chan and Woojin just watched as the younger boys shopped joyfully, the two of them unable to have that luxury being university students. 

It was roughly ten minutes since the arranged meeting time and Minho had just arrived, near sprinting when the four saw him in the distance.

“Sorry I’m late,” he panted, only having just stopped running, “I lost track of time.”

“It’s okay,” Chan stated, “Next time a text would’ve been nice.”

“Oh right, phones exist,” Minho remembered, feeling a bit dumb for forgetting such an obvious thing. He briefly registered Woojin saying something about leaving him next time but was distracted by a certain brunette staring in his direction.

Without realising it Jisung was staring directly at Minho. Not because he was beautiful (well he was always beautiful but that wasn’t the reason this time), but because he had spotted a bead of sweat - presumably from sprinting to the meet up location - that was falling down his face in a way that perfectly emphasized his stunning cheekbones and sculpted jawline and once his eyes had locked on it he found it hard to look away.

“Take a picture it’ll last longer,” Minho teased, giving Jisung a playful wink causing him to wake up from his trance. 

“Who would want to take a picture of you? You’re all sweaty and gross,” Jisung attempted, trying to sound confident despite knowing at that very moment his cheeks were becoming as flushed as Minho’s were - without the exercise causing them.

After that, Woojin had ushered everyone in the car saying something about how he was the one driving them and he didn’t want to be kept waiting any longer. Naturally, Chan was in the passenger seat at the front of the car to accompany Woojin, with Jeongin on the right backseat and Minho on the left. Leaving Jisung to take the middle due to Jeongin and Minho teaming up to point out that Jisung was the smallest out of everyone (which was not very appreciated on Jisung’s end).

The five more or less drove with little conversation, listening and singing along to the radio. Sometimes a small conversation would start but it would often end in the comfortable silence once again. It was when Jisung was happily humming along to a ballad playing on the car speakers that he was interrupted, suddenly feeling something heavy on his left shoulder.

He looked over to find Minho either in the process of falling asleep or having actually fallen asleep leaning into him - his head falling comfortably into the space between his neck and shoulder.

A fold smile couldn’t help but take over Jisung’s face as he thought that the older must be tired. Now that he thought about it, when Minho had arrived at the car he seemed a bit too tired out from only having to sprint to the car. The city was big but it wasn’t that big (plus, unlike Jisung, Minho was actually in good shape). Whatever he was doing must’ve been quite tiring.

The sweet melody of the songs on the radio continued to fill the car, accompanied with Woojin, Chan or Jeongin’s soft vocals fading in and out. Once again, Jisung had found himself staring continuously at Minho’s face, enjoying being able to without being teased by the very person he was entranced by. He wished he could stare at the peaceful sight of Minho sleeping forever; to Jisung he looked contempt and happy which was all that he could wish for. With his eyes shut, his long eyelashes were on full display against his porcelain-like skin.

Minho shifted slightly, causing some strands of his beige hair to fall gently on to his face. Unconsciously, Jisung used his right hand to push them away from where they had fallen and behind Minho’s ear. Feeling the warmth from Jisung’s hand Minho moved his head into his touch, causing Jisung’s heart to stutter. 

Despite that, he kept his hand in place and continued to inspect the older. Unknowingly, Jisung’s eyes drifted to Minho’s lips. He couldn’t help but think how pretty and soft they looked. How he wanted to touch them and how he wanted to ki-

Wait. What did he just think about?

Jisung couldn’t believe his thoughts. Was he really just about to think what he thought he was going to think? Did he really just almost think he wanted to kiss… to kiss Minho? Did he really have that urge to do that? There’s no way, right? There’s no way he could… That he could… To Minho?

Jisung suddenly jerked up, accidentally knocking Minho’s head causing him to wake up and make a noise. That then alerted everyone else in the car who was curious about what had happened. His entire face, from his cheeks to his ears, had turned a bright red - it was the perfect time to not have everyone’s attention on him but fate clearly wasn’t on his side today.

“Jisung, are you alright?” Chan asked, his voice filled with concern and a little bit of amusement as he pieced together what had happened. He really was able to read everyone like an open book.

“Can we turn the air con on, it’s too hot in here,” Jisung requested, being quite proud of the fact he came up with such a believable excuse and was able to get it out without stuttering for once.

The rest of the car journey had gone on as it had before, except with less of Minho sleeping and Jisung questioning himself even more than he already did. It didn’t take long for them to reach Jeongin’s house, followed by Jisung’s (with Minho being next and Woojin going to Chan’s for a bit).

As soon as he waved everyone off, Jisung ran into his house, not bothering to greet his family, and up into his room shutting the door behind him. He stood still for a few seconds trying to process everything that had happened during their outing, and then began to furiously pace around his room letting out various sounds as his thoughts continued to spin round his head.

At one point, Jisung’s mother came to check on him since she could hear his frantic footsteps from downstairs but he just assured her everything was alright with a grin. Of course, that was a complete lie - he was having an internal battle about his feelings.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but eventually his phone buzzed - a message from Felix in their group chat room.

[Group Chat: The Friendship Ship]  
Felix: Do you guys like the new name? :3  
Seungmin: Oh. My. God.  
Seungmin: Who let him do this?  
Hyunjin: And this is exactly why I didn’t want to be a part of this gc  
Felix: T_T  
Changbin: Oh come on its not that bad  
Minho: dont encourage him  
Minho: next hell be asking us to wear matching friendship bracelets he made  
Jeongin: that sounds cute  
Felix: Really? Because say the word and it’s done  
Jisung: Im down for bracelets  
Changbin: Ditto  
Jeongin: me too!  
Seungmin: I’m okay with it as long as we change the group chat name.  
Seungmin: Also, Hyunjin won’t admit it but he’d love one too.  
Hyunjin: Seungmin!  
Seungmin: That wasn’t a no.  
Felix: It’s like all my dreams are finally coming true T_T  
Felix: Minho what about you?  
Minho: Ill accept my defeat  
Minho: Im too tired to think of a reason to be the only one not getting one  
Minho: Someone interrupted my beauty sleep and still hasnt apologised  
Jisung: its your fault for falling asleep there ><  
Minho: I was tired and it was comfy. sue me  
Jeongin: can you two take this to dms? I’d rather not be a witness to this  
Jisung: is my Innie jealous?  
Jeongin: No.  
Jisung: dont worry Innie, my shoulder will always welcome you <3

The conversation continued with Chan and Woojin joining in eventually. While chatting amongst themselves, Chan had thrown in the name idea ‘Stray Kids’ saying it had just come to him and for some reason felt it fit them perfectly. Thus, the group chat’s name changed to Stray Kids.

At the name Jisung couldn’t help but think how happy meeting these ‘Stray Kids’ had made him. How much it had made his first year in high school that much more bearable so far and how scared he was about what he was feeling towards Minho at the thought it could potentially shatter everything that he had built up these past few months. The good times, the trust, the comfortableness.

He tried his best not to think about it anymore that night - to sleep it off and it would be a worry buried deep into the pits of his mind that wouldn’t need to resurface. 

It goes without saying that Jisung didn’t get any sleep that night.

-

It was the Monday of the new school week and Jisung was exhausted. Getting barely any sleep over the weekend and when he had finally gotten to sleep the night before his alarm signalling he should get ready for school just had to interrupt that (although, he actually ended up just falling back to sleep again, resulting in him being late for school).

During his classes he didn’t learn a single thing; he was either spaced out - lost in his own thoughts of various things or sometimes no thoughts at all due to his tiredness - or sleeping straight through them. At this point, he’d fallen asleep so many times in class that his teachers gave up on caring.

He was in the middle of one of those mid-class naps when he was woken up by his dear best friend shaking at him to get up.

“5 more minutes,” Jisung mumbled groggily, fully aware of how cliche the line was but too tired to care.

“If you don’t get up now you’ll miss lunch,” Jeongin argued, not bothering to wait for Jisung to become fully aware. Gently, he grabbed the older by his arm and dragged him out of their classroom, Jisung following along willingly.

Still in his dishevelled state, Jisung found himself being taken to a table with Felix, Changbin, Seungmin and Hyunjin already present. Jeongin brought Jisung closer to an empty chair and pushed him so he was sitting down, then taking a place opposite. The moment Jisung found himself in a seat again he collapsed on to the table.

“Didn’t get much sleep?” Changbin asked Jisung (or attempted to) - he wasn’t really listening.

“On the contrary, he got plenty of rest while sleeping through every lesson today,” Seungmin answered, the devil inside him making an appearance as it did sometimes. At his words, Hyunjin found it hard to hold back a chuckle.

“Is he alright?” Felix was the next one to question, this time directing it towards Jeongin knowing that Jisung wouldn’t even acknowledge him.

“He probably just stayed up binge watching something again, must’ve been quite emotional if he’s like this,” Jeongin explained, a small laugh filled with adoration for his friend escaping. He then turned his attention to said friend and jostled his shoulder slightly. “Jisungie, you need to eat.”

At this Jisung actually took the time to sit upright and take in his surroundings; realising fully where he was and who he was with. He saw Jeongin slightly nudge his lunchbox towards him to which Jisung responded with a grateful smile.

However, Jisung knew he wasn’t going to be able to eat. Even though he knew it was bad, sleep deprivation made him not want to eat. Not to mention everything that was on his mind regarding Minho, that definitely wouldn’t help his appetite grow. He especially didn’t want to be around potentially bringing down the mood due to his own internal conflict.

“Thanks Innie,” Jisung began, putting one of his hands lightly on top of the one Jeongin was using to push his lunchbox towards him, “But I think today I’m just going to go back to the classroom.”

“You okay?” Felix asked worriedly, watching as Jisung stood up from where he sat.

“If there’s something up you can tell us, you know that right?” Changbin added, his gaze on Jisung full of sincerity. Seungmin also nodded his head in agreement, despite not being as close to Jisung as the others. On the other hand Hyunjin decided it would be a good time to focus on eating his lunch, though he was still listening.

“Just tired,” Jisung attempted to assure them, knowing that it held some of the truth. He also gave Jeongin’s hand a final squeeze before heading off on his way, muttering a bye to everyone.

Honestly, Jisung was unbelievably happy he had met such great people that cared for him like they did but this wasn’t something they needed to worry about. He didn’t need to burden them with trivial thoughts he was having.

Having stayed up practically all night, Jisung was able to think about it for a long time. He thought of a lot of possibilities: that it was still what he had originally believed, just a dependence issue; that he hadn’t been in a relationship for a long time and those pesky hormones were taking advantage of the situation or even that it was just a thoughtless thought if that was even possible. 

Jisung was sure it wasn’t what should’ve been the obvious answer. That he actually liked Minho, in a way that wasn’t just platonic. That he wanted to be something more with him. That he actually wanted a relationship with him where they would do things like go on dates, kiss and everything that came after that. 

He was so sure it wasn’t. 

It was true that Jisung believed Minho was stunningly beautiful and even when he had first met him, despite being in the state that he was, he was taken aback by his soft and gentle smile. He also loved the way he would always know the best way to reassure him when he wasn’t feeling confident, how he would just listen as Jisung rambled on when he talked about something he was truly passionate about and that he was just an amazingly kind person in general. But none of that meant he loved Minho in that way.

There were times Jeongin had joked about Jisung thinking about Minho like that when it was just them two, especially when they had just met him, but those were just jokes. They had no basis, they were just made on a whim. An attempt the younger made to poke fun at his friend, it wasn’t because Jeongin actually thought Jisung saw him that way.

Jisung was so sure he didn’t like Minho.

“Jisung!” a voice called out to the squirrel like boy, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. His heart skipped a beat as he turned towards the source of the voice. The sight he was met with in that moment Jisung would dare compare to an angel.

Minho was there walking in his direction, but in Jisung’s mind that was the understatement of the century. The older was practically glowing in the younger’s eyes, his steps light and elegant. With each step he came closer and Jisung was able to further examine his perfect face. A warm inviting smile played along his rosy lips, and his chocolate brown eyes (which were slightly crinkled due to his smile) were bright and energetic. Jisung could’ve sworn there was a separate galaxy in each one. His light brown hair bounced the smallest bit with every step, causing it to flop in different places as he walked.

Jisung was breathless.

“Aren’t you going to the cafeteria?” Minho asked once the distance between the two of them had closed. Still staring at the older, a few awkward seconds passed before Jisung was able to stumble some words out.

“Ah no- I- Um… I’m just going back to my classroom.”

In acknowledgement, Minho just hummed and nodded.

“See you later then,” he waved off, continuing on his way like nothing had happened - which in reality was true but for Jisung it felt like his brain was exploding with emotion.

For a few seconds - maybe minutes - Jisung watched in the direction Minho had gone, even when he was no longer there. Since meeting the older, this wasn’t the first time Jisung had felt so dazed when talking to or looking at Minho but this… this was completely different.

Suddenly, his knees buckled beneath him and he felt like he was able to breathe again. He took a few more seconds to process it all and knew there was no point in trying to lie to himself anymore. To try and justify his feelings with something he knew wasn’t the truth. 

This time Jisung was absolutely sure.

He liked Minho.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally progressing!
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed this and are liking how this story is playing out, I'm really excited for the rest of the story and I hope you all are as well!
> 
> Also, I wonder what Minho could possibly be doing? (It's kinda obvious but play along haha)
> 
> Next update in two weeks <3


	7. 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Usual disclaimer: This is completely unrelated to the real Stray Kids aside from using the members as a basis for the characters <3

It was a beautiful Saturday morning; even though it was officially September, the sky was clear (aside from the occasional white, puffy cloud) and the sun was bright. Despite it being such a nice day, and the fact it was almost midday, Jisung was still dosing in his bed enjoying his lie in.

For the first time in a while nobody made any plans to hang out that weekend so Jisung had taken the opportunity to catch up on as much as sleep as possible. As much as he enjoyed hanging out with his friends he couldn’t deny staying in bed just to sleep a little more sometimes sounded more tempting. 

His mum had attempted a couple times to communicate with him but after getting only hums of responses or none at all, she decided to leave him be. It wasn’t until the familiar tone of Jisung’s phone ringing that the boy actually made an effort to move, groggily reaching for his phone on his bedside table while lifting his head up the slightest bit. It took him a few seconds to find the object as his eyes still refused to open but, once he did, he quickly answered it, his voice still raspy.

“Hello?”

“Jisungie, hi!” a way too cheery Felix greeted from the other end of the phone (but Jisung wouldn’t dare comment on that knowing that any normal person would’ve been up for hours by now).

“What’s up?” he asked, wiping his eyes sleepily and sitting up in his bed properly.

“Are you busy today? I wanted help with something,” Felix began. Through the call he could hear Felix get up and shut a door. “A special day for me and Changbin is coming up and I want to get him something memorable but I suck at stuff like this.”

“And you’re expecting I’m any better?” Jisung pointed out, a hesitant laugh slipping out at the end of his question.

“Well, you know more about the kind of music he likes and I know he’s really passionate about that so I was thinking we could work from there?” Felix explained, his manner a little shyer than it usually was, “Plus, even if I wanted to ask anyone else I can’t because you know.”

“You make a compelling argument. Sure, I can help you out,” Jisung agreed, flopping back onto his pillow because it was just so comfy he couldn’t resist it anymore.

“Awesome! How long do you need to get ready and get to the bus stop because I can tell you’re still in bed,” Felix teased, the eye roll almost audible down the lie.

“I’ve been caught,” Jisung laughed nervously, but unlike the usual kind of nervous it was one that felt comfortable (if that was even possible), “Give me like 30 minu- wait no, 45.”

“Roger that, see you then Jisungie!”

The call ended causing Jisung’s peaceful morning to return to him, but it felt a little empty now there was a lack of the blonde’s voice there. His grip on his phone relaxed and he spent a further five minutes lying in his bed before finally forcing himself to get up and go meet his friend.

-

After meeting, the two had made their way into town on the bus. Of course, Jisung jokingly complained after getting the luxury of Woojin’s car the previous week, but in reality he didn’t mind at all. There was something almost comforting about riding a bus and watching the scenery go by in a vehicle that wasn’t so cramped.

Once they arrived they immediately began shopping, Jisung recommending various shops and items that Changbin might like and Felix liking the idea at first then disregarding it with the reason ‘it wasn’t special enough’. It would be a miracle if Jisung wasn’t getting just a bit annoyed but, then again, he can understand why Felix didn’t want the gift to be just anything. He really cared for Changbin and, although that shouldn’t be shown exclusively through gifts, he wants something that truly shows that.

Hours had passed and Felix had finally decided on something to buy - a custom set of headphones Jisung had heard Changbin mention before. As soon as he paid Jisung begged for them to go get some food, since he had only eaten a brunch bar and a smoothie the entire day so far. Additionally, shopping for that long really made him need an energy charge and a meal was just the way to do it.

“It’s a good thing you found something,” Jisung stated happily, now seated at their table in the cafe with his iced americano and freshly grilled toastie.

“Yeah, seriously thanks for helping me pick it out. I never would’ve been able to without you,” Felix thanked sincerely, a sunshine-like smile emerging on his face. Jisung couldn’t help but reciprocate it.

“I’m glad I could help out!” Jisung commented, satisfied he was able to help his friend in some way. Seeing Felix so thankful to him and excited to share the gift really made any trouble the experience was worth it.

“By the way I wanted to ask,” Felix began hesitantly. In response Jisung just hummed, signalling for him to continue. “How’s it going with Minho?”

Oh, right. That.

The last Felix had heard from Jisung about Minho was how he wanted to avoid him because he was overly dependent. How was he supposed to explain that in less than two weeks since that conversation he not only completely disregarded that thought process but realised he actually liked Minho? Honestly, Jisung wasn’t sure what he was going to do about his feelings but he knew for sure he didn’t want to stay away from the older. 

However, he also knew he definitely did not want to confess. All his past experiences of confessing never ended well, he just ended up alone and embarrassed - regretting his decision to actually try being honest with his feelings. Minho was too precious to Jisung, he didn’t want to risk ruining anything with him. In reality that really only left one option: to bury his feelings and make sure no one found out until they disappeared completely.

“Well, I think it’s okay,” Jisung stated in a way that was more like a question - although to who he was asking that question he had no idea.

“I noticed you’re not avoiding him anymore,” Felix noted thoughtfully, picking up on his friend’s tone.

“Yeah, I realised you were right and that was pretty dumb of me,” Jisung confirmed, giggling nervously at an attempt to keep the conversation still light-hearted. 

“Jisungie,” Felix said seriously, “I wasn’t sure whether to say this or not but I feel like I should. Do you like Minho as something more than a friend?”

At the blonde’s words, Jisung choked slightly on the toastie he had just taken a bite of. There went Jisung’s plan of no one finding out about his feelings. 

“Uh, w-well,” Jisung stuttered nervously, trying to find some way to answer the question but failing miserably. In the end Jisung made contact with Felix’s questioning eyes and all he was able to do was nod slowly, his plump cheeks becoming a light shade of pink.

“I see,” Felix commented, leaving the conversation to fall into the abyss known as awkward silence. The two fidgeted cautiously before Jisung made up his mind to explain the situation. He knew he could trust Felix, plus Jisung knew his love life’s secret so he felt it was only fair.

“It’s nothing though! I swear!” Jisung insisted before continuing, “It’s something I only realised this past week and I’m not going to do anything about it. I really cherish our friendship and I don’t want to risk losing it over something dumb like a crush.”

“Okay, listen,” Felix sighed and looked at Jisung with a gentle gaze as he spoke, “I’m not going to try to tell you what to do but I also want you to do what your heart wants, not what your mind thinks is right.”

“I know, I know but this is what I decided to do,” Jisung carefully reached over to hold Felix’s hands in an attempt to reassure him, “You’re the only person who knows so I’d really like it if you respected my decision.”

“Okay I will,” Felix agreed, placing one of his own hands on top of Jisung’s, “But I actually had another reason for inviting you out today.”

“Not more shopping,” Jisung teased mischievously, breaking away from their contact and adding in an exaggerated eye roll. To humour him, Felix laughed before confirming what he meant.

“No, not more shopping. It involves Minho,” Felix announced, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Minho?”

-

This was the second time in less than two weeks that Jisung was dragged by his over-eager friend without being given any information (despite the fact that Jisung kept asking where he was being taken). ‘Just wait’ was the only information Felix would slip out, an ominous grin appearing on his face as he did so. It was only when the two had come across a decently sized crowd that Felix let go of the other’s arm, announcing they had arrived at the destination.

Naturally, Jisung was puzzled at why Felix had brought him here. The crowd seemed to be watching some kind of performance, he assumed from the music he could faintly hear over the loudness of the audience.

“Let’s go watch!” Felix suggested excitedly, already weaseling his way through the crowd to get closer to the front. Accepting his fate, Jisung followed, able to catch up easily due to his smaller build allowing him to slip in amongst all the people there.

Once Jisung had joined his friend at the front of the crowd, he was finally able to see what they were watching. There in the middle of the circle was the most stunning sight Jisung had ever seen and he’s sure he would ever see: Minho was there elegantly dancing to a piano piece playing on a speaker not too far away.

When Jisung’s eyes discovered Minho’s figure, who was moving so swiftly yet gently to the music, everything else around him disappeared. All he could focus on was Minho. The way his moves would be quick yet graceful while still perfectly in rhythm. The way his feet glided as if he were skating on ice. The way his hips accentuated every action, adding a sensual flare to the already wonderous routine.

It was safe to say Jisung was panicking. Not only was the man he fell for so kind, funny and caring but he could also dance in a way that made him want to melt in that spot right there and then. How was he supposed to resist that?

“Fuck,” Jisung cussed in a hushed voice, his gaze not wavering from Minho’s ethereal sight. At his side, Felix couldn’t help but giggle at the state his friend was left in.

It wasn’t much longer until the performance finished and Minho began thanking everyone for watching (as well as the generous amount of tips he had received, which could be seen in an overflowing hat by the speaker). As he looked around he spotted Jisung and Felix, making eye contact with both and waving in their direction.

Immediately, Felix waved back happily but Jisung was still frozen (mainly trying to process how exactly this had all happened). It wasn’t until Minho ran over and verbally greeted the two that Jisung noticed, gulping as he came closer.

“Hey guys, didn’t know you were coming here.”

Jisung was rendered speechless. He was too busy focusing on the heavenly creature stood in front of him practically glowing. As he looked up at his face his eyes managed to spot a drop of sweat that was slowly dripping down from his temple and along his perfectly shaped jaw - Jisung didn’t even fight the urge to watch it as it fell like he had done a week before. How was it possible for him to look this good while sweating?

“Yeah, we came to town for something and I knew you were performing so I thought we could surprise you!” Felix explained, desperately trying to bring the attention away from Jisung and not laugh at how obvious he was being. In understanding, Minho just nodded and smiled.

“I need to grab my stuff, give me a sec,” Minho announced, hastily running back to where his bag and the speaker was to begin packing up.

“Wow,” Jisung stated, now that he was finally able to think somewhat properly.

“Finally recovered?” Felix teased but it was completely gone unnoticed.

“Wow,” Jisung repeated thoughtlessly, “He’s so good.”

“Yeah, he’s been dancing here for a while, apparently,” Felix informed, “He always looks so in his element when dancing.”

“You can say that again.”

-

After Minho had finished grabbing his things, and received a few well deserved compliments from members of the audience that hadn’t left yet, he returned to the other two and joined them in a casual stroll around town.

“So, Jisung…” Minho began hesitantly before regaining his usual confidence, “It was your first time seeing me dance, what did you think?”

“Um, well…” Jisung trailed off, feeling flustered due to suddenly being put on the spot.

“Be honest! I don’t want any fake compliments,” the older insisted, eagerly waiting for the reply. He always loved to hear people talk about his dancing - whether it would be ways he could improve or praise to boost his ego.

“You were really good!”

“That’s what everyone says I want something more detailed,” Minho complained half-jokingly, once again waiting for the younger’s response.

To Minho’s request Jisung couldn’t help but think back to the scene he had seen barely even ten minutes ago. Everything about it was like an unworldly experience, even if he wanted to he wouldn’t be able to explain it to him. The way his feet would hit every beat, the way the rest of his body flowed like liquid with every movement and the aura he would exude while dancing were all indescribable. In particular, his gaze that was ever so slightly cocky as he made eye contact with each member of the audience made Jisung realise just how dangerous the man he fell for was.

“Hey Jisung? You okay?” Minho asked, the worry evident in his voice as he looked at a clearly spaced out Jisung. At the realisation of what he was thinking about (and who he was with while thinking about it), Jisung could feel all the blood in his body rush to his face as quickly as physically possible.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sor-”

Suddenly, Jisung was cut off by Minho placing his hand on his forehead. Okay, before was an exaggeration; now Jisung was sure all the blood in his body was currently circulating every inch of his face -from his ears to his cheeks it was all the brightest red imaginable.

“I knew it,” Minho announced. His words couldn’t help but cause Jisung to gulp - there’s no way he could’ve figured out he liked him already. “You have a fever, that’s why you’re acting so weird.”

If Jisung was being honest, he was a little disappointed. Although he was set on Minho never finding out, a part of him still wished he had. A small slither of hope that something may have happened couldn’t help but appear in that moment. But, that’s not what happened and in the end that’s what Jisung wanted, right?

“Ah… maybe,” Jisung began quietly, “I have been feeling a little funny today.”

During this whole interaction, Felix was at the side trying (and failing) to stifle his laughter that was threatening to spill out. However, he decided now was a good time to step in and help his friend.

“Yeah, you’ve looked a little off. How about we head back?” Felix suggested, as he walked a bit closer and gave him a knowing look.

“That sounds good,” Jisung agreed, returning Felix’s look with a silent thank you.

“Minho, you coming?” Felix asked, turning to his cousin who still had a look of concern on his face.

“No, I have something to do but I know you’re in good hands with Felix,” Minho assured, more for himself than anyone, “But let me know when you’re home Jisung, okay? Also make sure to rest rather than watching series or playing games!”

“I will,” the younger replied, despite it being a lie. Well, a half lie. Of course he didn’t actually have a fever but he’d at least let Minho know when he arrived safely.

“Good,” Minho smiled adoringly before turning and waving, “See you guys!”

-

As they had said, the two classmates were currently on their way home. The walk to the bus stop was pleasant enough, most of it Felix trying to fill the empty space while Jisung just laughed along, but now that they were on the bus the mood had changed slightly.

“So, about what happened back there…” Felix began slowly before Jisung spoke up.

“I know, kind of stupid of me right? Getting all embarrassed just because he touched my forehead unexpectedly.”

“That’s not wha-”

“But how stupid of him to think I had a fever,” Jisung continued to ramble, too out of it to realise Felix had begun to speak again, “I mean that kind of thing only happens in movies, but I guess it’s a good thing. Otherwise he would’ve fig-”

“Jisung!” Felix raised his voice in order to get his friends attention. It managed to spook the squirrel-like boy a little but it got the job done; his full attention was now on the blonde.   
“I wasn’t talking about you freaking out because your crush touched you, but that was very entertaining so thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome I guess,” Jisung laughed half-heartedly giving an exaggerated eye roll.

“I just wanted to ask if you really didn’t want to tell Minho your feelings?”

“Felix I already told you before, I just don’t want to ruin anything,” he replied, a hint of annoyance and begging in his tone.

“I know but your reaction earlier…” Felix commented hesitantly, trying to assure Jisung with his tone and facial expression that he was just trying to help.

“It meant nothing Felix,” Jisung stated, his body language obviously hinting that he was uncomfortable with the topic of conversation and just wanted to move on.

“But-”

“Nothing.” 

Jisung’s tone was cold, whether intentionally or not. It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well as Felix; as if repeating it would make the thought come true.

“Okay, let’s say it did mean nothing,” Felix compromised thoughtfully, trying his best to figure out the best way to approach his next point, “That doesn’t change the way you feel about him. Just think about it?”

The brunette didn’t respond. Instead he turned his body towards the window and focused on staring out at the scenery. At this point Felix just decided to drop the topic, now clearly wasn’t the time to continue talking about this.

For the rest of the ride back the two of them sat in silence: Jisung watching the scenery and Felix on his phone occasionally looking at his friend sat next to him. Well, they were in silence except for one word Jisung barely whispered, so quiet Felix couldn’t hear despite being sat next to him.

“Nothing…”

-

Upon arriving home, Jisung headed straight to his room as he often did these days. His plan was to do exactly what Minho had told him not to: play video games and binge watch a new series. However, he first had to do what he promised he would.

[Private Chat: Minho + Jisung]

Jisung: hey, i just got home  
Minho: Wait, you actually messaged me  
Minho: It’s a miracle  
Jisung: what are you talking about we talk all the time >_<  
Jisung: and i said i would  
Minho: Yeah, but recently you havent been messaging me first and only really replying with the bare minimum  
Jisung: thats not true...  
Minho: Yes it is!  
Jisung: ok, maybe a little…  
Jisung: sorry Minho, just… stuff  
Minho: Want to talk about it?  
Jisung: no, itll pass  
Jisung: but thanks :D  
Minho: Okay, I’ll always be here to talk though if you ever want to  
Minho: Anyway I’m glad you made it home safely!  
Minho: You should be resting now so get off your phone  
Jisung: i will if you stop replying  
Minho: You’ll sulk if I stop  
Jisung: no I wont!  
Minho: Jisung, it’s happened at least 3 times before. You wouldnt talk to me for the whole day when that happened  
Jisung: how do you know that was the reason? hmph >_<  
Minho: Anyway  
Minho: Go rest, okay?  
Jisung: fine  
Jisung: …  
Jisung: Minho?  
Minho: Yes?  
Jisung: I…  
Jisung: nevermind it was dumb  
Jisung: must be the fever  
Jisung: see you at school!  
Minho: Jisung?

[End of Private Conversation]

Jisung sighed heavily, throwing his phone across the bed (knowing it would be safe thanks to the softness of his duvet and mattress). He shouldn’t have left Minho on read, he knew it. Obviously, he wanted to reply but he just didn’t want to face anything. Accidentally spill anything. Ruin anything.

Honestly, he wasn’t going to say anything out of the ordinary, only the words ‘I appreciate you’, but he couldn’t do it. He was too scared of sharing too much of himself, making himself more vulnerable to the cruel reality of fate.

He kept thinking about what he endlessly repeated to Felix: it’s nothing. But it wasn’t nothing. It was how he truly felt. If only he wasn’t so scared of the repercussions, so scared that Minho would leave him, so scared that they would become how his parents are now. It wasn’t the fear of being rejected that made him repeatedly lie to his friends and himself but the fear of losing someone who had become so important to him in just a matter of months.

Not being able to have conversations with him anymore. Not being able to be teased by him anymore. Not being able to see the gentle smile that comforted him so much every time he saw it. Jisung couldn’t handle having to lose all these things he now can’t remember living without.

So, it will all have to become just that:

Nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Finally something is actually happening haha~
> 
> Hope you all have an amazing rest of the day/night (depending on when you read this) :)


	8. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster so, buckle up for the ride I guess?
> 
> Disclaimer: This piece of work isn't attempting to portray any of the real members of Stray Kids and only uses them as basis for the characters <3
> 
> TW//  
Marital arguments (Idk what else to call it)  
Mentions of anxiety attacks

Another weekend, another group outing. This weekend’s activity was bowling, as chosen by none other than Minho (because he saw there were having an offer at a place not too far from where they lived).

Since a group of 9 is quite large for one game of bowling, the group had split onto two lanes (four on one and five on the other). The first lane was composed of Felix, Changbin, Seungmin and Hyunjin while the second had Chan, Woojin, Jeongin, Jisung and Minho. 

If there was any question on how the members of each were decided, it was assumed Jisung and Hyunjin would be in separate groups while being with Jeongin and Seungmin respectively. It also went without saying that Chan and Woojin would be together and Woojin had teasingly stated he didn’t want to see his brother any more than he had to and so they ended up with Jisung and Jeongin. The other three had just organised themselves in that mix as they felt.

“Hah, a spare on the first round,” Chan declared triumphantly, turning around to see if the others had seen only to be met with all their attention focused on the pleasant conversation they were having. In response Chan just sulked, walking up to Woojin to let him know it was his turn. “Woo, it’s your go.”

“There’s no need to sulk, that was a great spare Channie,” Woojin assured, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face as he walked to select his ball of choice for his go (making sure to give Chan a small pat as he walked past him). At his words, Chans pout instantly turned into a knowing smile and he took a seat where Woojin was previously sat.

“Hey, stop flaunting your relationship, some of us are still single,” Minho complained in fake anger. At his ridiculous remark, Chan couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Flaunting? That wasn’t even flirting, let alone flaunting,” he argued.

“Please, one look between you two is worth a million times more than a cheesy pick-up line,” Minho returned, slightly envious about how strong of a bond the couple had.

“That’s not true, right you two?” Chan asked the two first years that were sitting back and enjoying the show. They thought for a second for giggling to themselves.

“It’s like hearts appear where your eyes should be,” Jisung remarked, to which Minho and Jeongin agreed.

“No way, we’re not that bad!” Chan attempted to defend, his voice hinting at a whimper.

“Jeongin, your turn,” Woojin declared, taking Jeongin’s seat after he nodded and ran to take his shot, “What are you talking about?”

“Minho’s jealous we’re in love because he’s lonely and single,” Chan explained, his tone gaining some confidence due to the shot he had taken at the younger.  
“Hey, it’s not my fault your adoration for each other gets released with every movement you make.”

“He’s right,” Jisung agreed, sharing a smirk with Minho after seeing the couple blush, knowing their teasing was successful. As they did, Jisung ignored his heart fluttering at the way Minho’s eyes would crinkle ever so slightly.

“But Minho,” Woojin began, changing the topic slightly, “If you really wanted, I know a couple people I could set you up with?”

Jisung’s heart sunk, not believing the words Woojin had just spoken. Sure, it was a natural thing to do and it was true Minho was single so of course he’d be looking for someone but Jisung couldn’t help the fact that even the suggestion made him feel uncomfortable.

“Jisungie, you’re up,” Jeongin came back, waiting in front of his best friend for him to move so he could take his seat.

“Oh, okay,” Jisung said disheartenedly, he loved his best friend but this truly was the worst timing. He moved to retrieve a bowling bowl in order to take his shot, as he did so losing his ability to hear the rest of the conversation that happened.

He had no idea what Minho’s response was and what happened next in the conversation. And he didn’t need to know. Didn’t want to know. Everything was fine, he didn’t need to know unnecessary details that may hurt him. He was fine, he had his own little bubble of friends including Minho that he wouldn’t change for the world.

So then, why did he feel this way? When he was the one who made the decision about his feelings, about how he wanted to keep everything normal. 

Why did it hurt?

-

The current predicament wasn’t quite what was planned: at this moment, Minho and Jisung were walking together along a path that was getting suspiciously close to the younger’s house. The question of how this happened was easily answerable. 

After finishing their bowling session, it didn’t take long for Seungmin, Hyunjin, Woojin and Chan to split off from the rest of the group as they were all heading to the siblings’ house to do other activities. The rest hung around with each other for a while before Changbin had said he thought he had forgotten something and Felix went with him to look for it (after Jisung had snuck in a wink to the younger). Then, as the three had arrived at the street where Jeongin’s house was he split off since his parents needed him for something later that day.

Naturally that left the two of them wandering aimlessly.

“So, how long are you planning on sticking around?” Jisung asked curiously, hoping the answer would result in him leaving.

“You don’t want to get rid of me already, do you?” Minho teased, a small pout playing on his lips.

“Of course, how could anyone handle being around you for more than a few minutes?,” the younger replied dramatically causing Minho to bring his hand to his chest and act as if he had just been shot. Although, it was a blatant lie; Jisung would never want to get rid of him. “But seriously, I was planning to go home.”

“That’s a great idea let’s hang out at your house!” Minho suggested excitedly, “Maybe you could show me one of those series that you always talk about.”

It was a great idea, Jisung would love that more than anything in the world. When someone you care about truly takes interest in something you love so much, it means more than anything else in the world. But, he couldn’t have anyone come to his house, he was scared of what they would see and ask.

“Sorry, I don’t think you can,” Jisung began, desperately trying to think of an excuse, “My room’s a mess.”

“You seriously think I care about a bit of mess?” Minho laughed, “Jisung when aren’t you making a mess.”

“Ouch,” Jisung flinched slightly in mock hurt, much like Minho had done earlier, “But it is actually a pigsty. There’s no way I can let you go in there.”

“Okay, fine,” the oldest eventually agreed, allowing Jisung to let out a small sigh of relief until he opened his mouth again, “We’ll just hang out downstairs then!”

“Bu-”

“Which way is it? This way, right?,” Minho interjected, happily trotting in the direction he believed Jisung’s house was in (which it was).

He sometimes hated this stubborn side of him but what he hated more was the fact he found it endearing. Jisung thought about it for a few seconds, of other ways he could convince Minho on why he couldn’t go to his house, and decided to just admit defeat. He was tired; tired of constantly trying to hide the truth. Plus, there’s no way Minho would notice in just one visit, his parents probably wouldn’t even be there. 

In reality, those were just excuses he wanted to believe (even though there was some truth to them). Jisung just really wanted to be with Minho longer.

The younger just laughed watching the older trying to figure out his bearings and guess which way the house was.

“Minho, just follow me.”

-

Arriving at the house didn’t take long, and once they had the two had taken over the living room making using pillows to make a mini fortress where the sofa was. They had just decided to watch some random movie that was on the TV, something mediocre but just enough to keep them interested. Although, Jisung would take the occasional moment to admire the older’s face focused on the screen and giggle silently to himself.

As Jisung had suspected, his parents weren’t home. It really helped to put into perspective just how paranoid he really was; there was nothing to worry about.

“Jisung!” Minho exclaimed, in an attempt to get his attention, “The movie’s finished.”

At his words, Jisung checked the monitor blinking a few times as he saw the credits roll on the screen.

“I understand, Jisung. My beauty is quite distracting,” Minho stated jokingly, laughing as he saw the red colour slowly fill up the younger’s face.

“No! It’s just there was an eyelash on your face!” Jisung argued, once again another lie.

“Really? Could you get it for me then?” Minho requested, moving his head closer to Jisung.

“Uh, sure,” the first year agreed hesitantly.

Carefully, Jisung brought his hand to the elders cheek and lightly brushed it, trying to act like something was actually there. While doing so, he couldn’t help but admire the face of the person he had grown to depend on so much. Starting with the cheek he had just touched that had a very slight pink tint to it, moving down to his lips that were slightly parted and, if Jisung was being honest for once, looked so kissable. 

Finally, he moved his gaze to Minho’s eyes that locked with his and Jisung realised he had seen him inspect every part of his face.

“Ji-”

“Got it,” Jisung interrupted, quickly moving his hand that was still lingering by Minho’s face away and standing up, “We should probably tidy up my parents will be back soon.”

“Jisu-”

Once again Minho was interrupted, but this time not by Jisung. It was his parents who had just walked into the house; Jisung didn’t know whether or not to be thankful or dreading what could potentially happen. The two stayed in silence as they could hear them fumble around in the hallway.

“I’ve told you a million times, put your shoes on the damn rack,” Jisung’s mother could be heard scolding his father.

“I’m just going to wear them again tomorrow, what’s the point,” Jisung’s father argued back. The next words he said were slightly more hushed but still easily hearable, “God, you’re insufferable.”

“Speak up if you’re going to insult me, not like I haven’t heard it all before.”

Jisung couldn’t help but wince slightly as each word was spoken, not because he hadn’t heard it all before but because this time there was a witness. He couldn’t bear to look over at Minho and see the look he was giving him.

It was then that Jisung’s mother and father had split off: his father going upstairs and his mother coming into the living room. Once she saw Jisung and Minho there, a wave of fear flashed by her face before a cheerful one took over it.

“Oh, Jisung, you were in the living room. How are you doing, Sweetie?” his mother asked sweetly before turning to Minho, “And I don’t think I’ve met you before?”

“I’m Lee Minho, it’s nice to meet you,” Minho greeted, his tone hard to read.

“Nice to meet you too, thank you for taking care of Jisung. He is quite a handful isn’t he?” she teased but Jisung was barely listening. Like always, his first instinct was telling him to run away; to leave.

“Minho was just leaving,” Jisung stated, his gaze keeping to the floor.

“Act-”

“Come on, I’ll walk with you down the street,” Jisung interrupted him for another time that day, walking straight to the door and listening as he heard Minho get up and follow him after exchanging a goodbye with his mother.

-

The walk to the end of the street was in complete silence. Minho constantly wanted to try and have a conversation but could tell from Jisung’s demeanor that he didn’t particularly want to talk right now. However, when he realised Jisung was just planning to turn back around, probably only muttering a hushed ‘bye’, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Jisung… back there…” he began thoughtfully, not wanting to hurt the younger with a poor choice of words.

“Can we not talk about it?” the younger requested, the hint of desperation in his voice noticeable.

“Normally I’d say yes but…” Once again Minho hesitated before figuring out exactly what he wanted to say, thumbing nervously with his hands and staring at the back of the first year’s head.

“Please, can’t you just respect what I want?” Jisung pleaded, keeping his back to the older as he walked ahead.

“Maybe I’m prying where I shouldn’t be but I’m worried,” Minho explained, and it was true. Sure, Minho had only seen a short scene but something like that could have gone on for a long time and it could definitely start digging away at a person’s mental state. It wasn’t like Minho wasn’t aware that Jisung was very fragile.

“Worried?” Jisung scoffed, it wasn’t his intention but it just came out that way, “Why should you be worried? Because of what you saw back there? It was just a little argument.”

“It didn’t seem like that though,” Minho pointed out, regretting the words as they came out of his mouth.

“Who are you to judge what my family is like Minho?” Jisung snapped, “That’s the first time you ever saw them how dare you try and analyse my home life from one small encounter!”

“Jisung!” Minho yelled back. He could feel anger bubbling up from somewhere but he wasn’t sure of the source. Was it because Jisung was insisting it was nothing? Was it because Jisung was accusing him when all he was trying to do was help? Or was it because he hated how Jisung didn’t want to open up to him? 

“I know you, Han Jisung. You may not realise how much I care but we’ve been friends for months now and I know what you’re like. I know for a fact you’re getting mad because you bottle up your emotions like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode!”

Jisung stopped in place. Minho followed, staring worriedly at the younger’s mousy brown hair.

The words were harsh. It felt like he was just hit with a baseball bat that had the truth written all over it. Of course, Minho was right but the words still hurt just because of how accurate they were. They hurt so much… but they also gave Jisung so much relief. Someone could see it, could see how he tried to cope with everything and finally called it out. Subconsciously, he had always wanted someone to do that.

Slowly, he turned around, revealing his eyes that were threatening to spill freshly formed tears at any moment to the one person he cared about most in the world right now.

“Jisung, it doesn’t have to be like that,” Minho stated softly, a contrast to his previous forceful tone. He carefully edged towards the younger’s frail figure before enveloping him in a hug. “I’m here to listen.”

It wasn’t many words - as always Minho didn’t speak in large paragraphs that were beautifully crafted. Nevertheless, that didn’t matter. He always knew exactly what to say; exactly what Jisung needed to hear.

Even if he wanted to, Jisung couldn’t stop the tears flowing like waterfalls as he silently sobbed into Minho’s shoulder, gripping onto his back like his life depended on it. He could feel the older gently stroke his back as he let out months - maybe even years - worth of emotions that had built up over time.

And it felt so good.

-

It took a while for Jisung to calm down, eventually loosening his grip on Minho’s shirt. When Minho noticed that the sobs had turned into occasional sniffles he moved his head back from Jisung’s shoulder and looked at the younger’s face.

“Should we find somewhere to sit and talk?” Minho suggested, a fond smile present on his face. Feebly, Jisung nodded and (regretfully) removed himself from the embrace of his crush.

They went to a park that was near Jisung’s house, luckily it was practically empty aside from a few children with their parents. The two sat at an unoccupied bench that was a little bit away from where the playground area was.

“So, I’ll repeat what I originally said,” Minho informed, “Back at your house when your parents came in…”

“They were arguing, I’m sure I don’t need to explain that to you,” Jisung began with a sigh, keeping his eyes glued to his hands, “It happens often. All the time actually but never when they know I’m around. They want to hide it from me and pretend that there’s nothing wrong and so I do the same, pretend it doesn’t happen.”

“Can I ask how long for?” he asked cautiously, studying any changes in Jisung’s body language. For the most part he had no reaction however, he changed the focus of his gaze to a little kid playing with their parents by the swings.

“I’m not sure how long they’ve been like this but I started noticing after I entered high school,” the younger answered, “It’s gotten worse recently. Before it just used to be bickering and arguments but now it feels more like genuine hatred.”

“Jisung…” Minho muttered sympathetically. He knew the younger didn’t want to be pitied but he couldn’t help it, especially now knowing how long it’s been going on for. “I know you probably won’t like me saying this but you need to talk with your parents. It’s not good for any of you to try and pretend that everything is okay.”

“I know that but I’m scared,” Jisung admitted. Before he would’ve done anything he could to keep his feelings wrapped and hidden but now that he was finally talking to someone about the situation, everything easily came spilling out. “I’m scared about what it’ll do to us as a family. I’m scared that everything will change.”

Scared that the little safety bubble Jisung had of everything being fine and normal would finally pop and would never be able to be brought back again.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Minho warned, “It’s impossible to promise that everything will be okay and turn out the way you want. Things will change.”

Gently, Minho put his hand over Jisung’s that was laying in his lap causing Jisung to jolt in surprise and look at the older.

“But I can promise I’ll be here for you,” he finished, his gaze filled with certainty as he stared into Jisung’s eyes, “Not just me but everyone.”

Jisung was so thankful. He had no idea how to express it but the gratitude that he had to the older was so much it felt impossible to contain. From the moment he had met Minho to this current moment, Jisung couldn’t help but feel more glad with every second he had met such a wonderful and genuinely beautiful person.

It was then that Jisung processed the second part of what he had said.

“Minho, can you not tell the others?” Jisung requested, “I know you want me to ask for help and I will eventually but I want to be ready and choose when I tell them.”

“Of course, Jisung.” As he ruffled Jisung’s hair, Minho's lips formed into a grin. Despite the current conversation, Jisung couldn’t help but return it. Maybe it was because of the action or maybe because it felt so good to finally tell someone this. “But I have another question.”

“What is it?” Jisung asked worriedly, wondering what Minho could possibly want to ask after all that.

“The time I first met you,” Minho began hesitantly, “Was your parents the cause of it?”

“Oh…” On any other day Jisung may have tried to change the subject or avoid answering but today it was like he couldn’t contain anything. He just wanted to tell Minho everything - it put him at ease. “No it wasn’t.”

“Can I ask what then?”

“Well, it was an anxiety attack. You probably realised already but I get them when I’m overwhelmed by situations and usually in my case they’re caused by my own paranoia,” Jisung explained. The last, and only, person he had talked about this was Jeongin. It was quite ironic how easy it was to explain compared to how he imagined talking about it would be. “That time you found me I had just been rejected by someone I confessed to.”

“Oh, I see.” An awkward silence fell between the two and Jisung couldn’t help but think he weirded him out. Was it the attacks themselves or the fact he had one over getting rejected that was so off putting? However, before he came to a conclusion, Minho spoke up again, “Well, there will be someone else.”

“What?” Jisung asked, taken aback by what Minho had said.

“Come on Jisung there’s loads of people that would want to date you,” Minho pointed out, and once again Jisung was confused. Should he be happy about this? His crush was calling him dateable but Minho wasn’t necessarily implying that he wanted to date him.

“What do you mean by that?” At his question Minho released a small laugh, but it seemed just a little forced.

“Well first of all you’re really cute,” the older began, “and you care so much about your friends and the people close to you plus you’re way smarter than people believe.”

Jisung’s face heated up as Minho, as in the guy he had been trying to repress his feelings for, continued to compliment him and explain why he was supposedly such a catch. A part of him started to hope that something could actually happen between them that wouldn’t ruin everything. That was until Minho’s next sentence.

“Oh, it’s been a few months now! Maybe Chan has someone he can introduce you to, he was talking about it earlier,” Minho suggested in an attempt to be helpful. Naturally, that just made Jisung’s heart sink.

“I don’t think I want to-”

“Come on, why not? Maybe you’ll meet your destined partner,” Minho interrupted, he seemed insistent on keeping with the topic.

“Maybe but I really don’t think it would be a good idea,” Jisung tried once again to reject the offer. Maybe if Jisung was someone else, it would be a good idea. A good way to move on from the person he liked who, clearly from his persistence on setting him up with someone else, didn’t reciprocate the feelings. It felt even worse that just moments before he was talking about how Jisung would be the ideal boyfriend, as if he was trying to make Jisung believe there was actually a chance of something happening between them.

“Jisung it could be good for you, why not?”

Why not? The question continuously echoed in his mind. It was actually a fair question, he was so sure about his decision to keep his feelings hidden so surely an opportunity to move on would be good. 

In reality, deep down Jisung knew the reason: he didn’t want to move on. He wanted to feel butterflies in his stomach whenever he saw Minho, and blush whenever they had brief contact. He wanted to continue to feel elated every time he saw a message from the older, to continue imagining what it would be like to hold his hand and cuddle with him. He wanted to continue to hope.

Why not?

Why not…

“Why not?” Jisung muttered under his breath, Minho just barely being able to hear. Suddenly, Jisung stood up from his place on the bench and stood directly in front of the third year. A wave of confidence overcoming any fear as he stared into the older’s dark brown eyes.

Why not? Because he didn’t want anyone else other than Minho. Why not? Because he didn’t even want to think about anyone else but Minho.

Why not?

“Because I like you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp


	9. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, just wanted to say thank you everyone for reading this fic T-T  
I just write this for fun and the fact almost 100 people have given it kudos makes me so happy so I just wanted to say that quickly before this chapter~
> 
> Also, because I'm so thankful I feel a little bit bad for this chapter...
> 
> Disclaimer: This is purely fictional and in no way portrays the real Stray Kids members, only uses them as a base for the story :)
> 
> TW//  
Anxiety Attacks  
Marital Arguments (again idk if this the correct wording but yeah ffghj)

“Because I like you.”

Despite the silence between the two boys, they could both hear the words replaying over and over as they processed what Jisung had just said. At the realisation, Jisung’s eyes went wide and his face instantly turned a dark shade of red.

“You…” Minho began but before he could continue the younger had already bolted in the other direction.

He ran away as he always did when he faced an uncomfortable situation. Jisung couldn’t stop beating himself up over what he had said due to his emotions overtaking control from Minho’s persistence. He hadn’t meant to say what he did, he was just so annoyed that Minho wouldn’t drop the topic of setting him up. Why was he so insistent on it anyway?

At that moment, though, it didn’t matter. What did matter is he had just destroyed everything he had built up. Finally, there was someone there for him who would listen to him but he just had to ruin it by falling for them and, even worse, telling them he had fallen for them. It wasn’t that he thought Minho would judge him for liking him (okay, maybe he did but that wasn’t what he was most scared of) but the fact that now Minho would never be able to look at him the same again.

Now instead of ‘my close friend’ he’ll be seen as ‘the guy who likes me’ and that’s what Jisung hated most. 

-

[Private Chat: Minho + Jisung]  
Minho: Jisung  
Minho: Jisung…  
Minho: Jisung, please  
Minho: I want to talk to you  
Minho: Please at least answer  
Minho: It looks like you’re not going to answer so I guess I’ll wait to talk to you at school  
Minho: Jeongin said you weren’t in today, I hope you’re okay  
Minho: It isn’t my fault… is it?  
Minho: Jisung you weren’t in again today  
Minho: I won’t bother you so please come to school  
Minho: It’s been days, are you okay?  
Minho: Did something happen?  
Minho: Everyone’s really worried  
Minho: Including me  
Minho: Please at least answer  
Minho: Just let me know you’re alright  
Minho: Please…

[End of Private Chat]

-

“Jisung, aren’t you going to school today?” his mother shouted up the stairs, causing it to echo throughout the house. Jisung didn’t move though, he just stayed in the same position in his bed, as he had done the past few days. “You’ve missed a lot. I really think you should go in.”

The brunette could hear his mother’s voice get closer as she walked up the stairs and into his room. Her face was filled with worry as she stared at her son but she at least attempted not to show it.

“I’m not feeling great today, I’ll go in tomorrow,” Jisung replied, the sound slightly muffled as he was still buried in his duvet.

“You said that yesterday. And the day before that too,” she argued gently, moving to sit on the edge of Jisung’s bed. Jisung just groaned and dug his head further into his pillow. It was obvious to anyone that something was wrong but she was worried that pushing the subject could make things worse. “How about you at least come eat breakfast today?”

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Jisung agreed to his mother’s suggestion saying he’d be down in a few minutes, causing her to smile. She said she’d be waiting as she left for the kitchen to continue making breakfast. 

Being honest, Jisung didn’t want to go but he didn’t want his mother worrying any more than she was already. Even more than that, he didn’t want her asking questions, he was already so grateful that she hasn’t until now. So, after a couple of minutes of mentally psyching himself up, he got out of bed and quickly checked his appearance in the mirror.

It wasn’t a pretty sight. He hadn’t left his room in days, aside from the necessities, and he’d been wearing the same pair of pyjamas the whole time. The bags under his eyes were distinctly evident and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

Jisung sighed, and practiced smiling; watching his reflection to see if it would be convincing enough to his parents. He also fixed his hair as much as he could before putting on a pair of slippers and heading downstairs.

As he got closer to the kitchen, he could hear his parents discussing something. Even though the voices weren’t clear enough for him to be able to understand what they were saying, it was obvious they were talking about him and, more specifically, how they should act around him.

“Good morning,” Jisung greeted as he walked in, capturing the attention of his mother and father who both returned the greeting. His father was already sat at the table reading a newspaper, as he always did, and his mother was serving up breakfast on the table.

Jisung sat at the table and his mother joined him as she brought the final plate. They all sat in silence, aside from the occasional remark, as they ate.

“Are you feeling any better today, Sweetie?” his mother asked.

“A bit,” Jisung lied. He kept his gaze to the food in front of him as he continued to eat, not baring to look at his parents in the face.

“That’s great!” she commented, “So, do you think you could go to school? Today’s Friday so it’d just be one day and then you get the weekend off. You can even go in a bit later if you’d like.”

“I’m not sure…” Jisung answered hesitantly. He knew his mother was concerned and Jisung hated that he was the cause of it but he wasn’t sure he could handle going, there was just too much he was worried about and things he didn’t want to face. More specifically, people.

Honestly, he knew he was overreacting but just the thought of what could happen when he goes in was enough to terrify him. The one place he felt safe - with his friends - had turned into the place he dreaded to go the most and that was exactly why he didn’t want to face that reality.

“Come on, son, you need to toughen up a bit. One day won’t kill you,” his father finally spoke up. It was hard to tell if he genuinely was trying to help or if he was just annoyed at his son moping around constantly, but Jisung wanted to believe his intentions were good. He wanted to, but the words still made him stop in place temporarily.

“Darling,” his mother seethed, “Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh?”

“Sometimes there’s things you just have to do in life even if you don’t want to,” his father argued.

“And sometimes you don’t necessarily know what’s wrong so you shouldn’t assume what would be best for them,” his mother countered.

Jisung hated it. He hated it so much. He was so sick of it.

The bickering continued back and forth, with the occasional Darling or Honey thrown in made to seem like they weren’t arguing when it was so obvious they were. Why couldn’t they just be honest? Maybe if they could Jisung could be too. 

He was so sick of everything.

He was so sick of this situation.

“Can you just stop it!” Jisung yelled, slamming his utensils on the table. The outburst shocked all of them, Jisung included. His parents just stared at their son in disbelief at what he had just done - he had never had such an outburst before. “I’m so tired of living this lie.”

With that, Jisung left the table and ran out of the door. Not caring that he was still in his pyjamas and slippers. Not caring that his phone and everything was still in the house. Not caring about the shouts from his parents that came from behind him. He just wanted to be anywhere but there.

Jisung ran away as he always did: from Minho, from his home and, most importantly, from his own emotions.

He could feel his breathing getting heavier, and not just from the running but as the panic really started to set in his system. Tears began to form in his eyes and he had no idea what to do or where to go. Jisung’s mind was a mess and he just wanted to escape from everything, including himself.

-

Jisung must’ve been running on autopilot, because he had run all the way to where he would meet Jeongin to head to school without realising it. He actually hadn’t noticed until a certain fox-like person called out to him.

“Jisung!” Jeongin shouted worriedly in another attempt to grab the older’s attention. He had been continuously calling him until he had finally caught up to him and grabbed his arm. “Where have you been?”

“Jeongin,” Jisung cried out softly, causing a waterfall of tears to be unleashed as he crashed into his best friend. Jeongin’s gaze softened upon seeing the state his friend was in and he instantly wrapped his arms around Jisung’s shaking body.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the younger reassured him, patting his back gently, “Everything is going to be okay.”

They stayed like that for a while, Jeongin continuously saying comforting words as Jisung cried into his chest. Jeongin had seen Jisung in this state before and he knew it was best to let him calm down before addressing the problem.

Once Jisung’s crying had been reduced to mere sniffling, he finally spoke again.

“Jeongin,” he whispered, his voice weak and feeble. Jeongin just hummed in response, continuing to pat the older’s back. “I want to disappear.”

For a split second, Jeongin stopped his hand as he took in what Jisung had just said before continuing what he had been doing before.

“Jisungie,” Jeongin began, a huge smile spreading across his face as he moved back and looked at his best friend’s face, gently wiping the tears from Jisung’s cheeks as he did so, “Should we go to my house?”

Jisung nodded slowly but the moment he did, Jeongin took him by the hand and started to drag him in the direction of his house. He would constantly talk about any topic he could think of, not knowing whether or not Jisung was actually listening or not. The whole time the older stayed silent, letting himself be pulled.

Eventually, the two boys arrived at the younger’s house and headed up to Jeongin’s room. Jisung was made to sit on Jeongin’s bed as he went downstairs to grab some drinks and snacks, despite it still being early in the morning. When he came back up he asked Jisung a question.

“Do you want to wash up first or watch your favourite series?” Jeongin smiled as he placed the tray which held the refreshments on his bedside table. “Or would you prefer to play some video games?”

It would be a lie to say Jisung wasn’t confused. Specifically, about how he ended up in this situation and how his best friend was acting for various reasons.

“Innie, don’t you have school?” Jisung questioned worriedly. Unlike him, Jeongin was actually a good student and he didn’t want to ruin that for him. He was fed up of ruining everything.

“Nope, not anymore,” he stated, joining Jisung on his bed, “It was cancelled the moment my best friend needed me.”

In that moment Jisung realised just how lucky he was to have a friend like Jeongin. He had always known he was lucky: Jeongin had always gone out of his way to help him out and never judged him like others did, sincerely liking hanging out with him. His love for his best friend couldn’t help but explode right now.

Instantly, he wrapped his arms around the younger once again, squeezing him gently.

“Thank you,” Jisung said sincerely, a small smile appearing on his face as he felt his friend hug back.

After a little bit, the two broke apart and Jeongin just smiled back at Jisung.

“So the series or video games?”

-

Jeongin had contacted Jisung’s parents briefly explaining the situation and they had agreed to let Jisung stay over for the night. The two had spent the day doing various activities, all at Jisung’s request, and temporarily forgetting about their worries. Somehow, it was amazing that Jeongin knew exactly how to cheer Jisung up but, then again, he wasn’t his best friend of several years for no reason.

Giving Jisung a spare change of clothes, Jeongin had forced him to go wash up and get changed before continuing their bestie session. Once Jisung had returned, Jeongin had finally decided to try and look for some answers and (hopefully) help his friend out.

“Jisungie,” the younger began, looking at his friend who was currently munching on some doritos, “Do you want to tell me what happened? To be honest, I’m really worried about you and I want to help.”

The question caught Jisung a little off guard but he was expecting for it to be asked at some point in the night. He appreciated that Jeongin had waited a while for him to mentally recover enough before asking though.

“I’m not really sure where I should begin,” Jisung admitted, putting the bag of doritos to the side. He fully intended to tell Jeongin everything but it was a lot and he didn’t want to overwhelm his friend. As much as he loved his comfort and advice, he was younger than him and it wasn’t fair to put the burden on him.

“Take your time, we have all night,” Jeongin reassured him, accompanying his words with a comforting pat, “How about you start with the reason you weren’t coming to school? All you would tell me is you were fine and I shouldn’t worry.”

“I… I like Minho,” Jisung began hesitantly, a huge weight lifting off his shoulder the moment the words escaped his mouth, “I realised a few weeks ago. I tried so hard to ignore the feelings but something happened last weekend and I ended up telling him.”

“What did he say?” Jeongin asked after taking in what Jisung had said.

“I don’t know I ended up running away,” Jisung answered, “I was just so scared. I still am, it’s why I haven’t been going to school. I never wanted this to happen.”

“Okay,” Jeongin stated thoughtfully. Deciding he wanted to hear the full story before he said anything else he continued, “But that didn’t have anything to do with this morning, right?”

“No,” Jisung confirmed. He winced a bit recalling the scene from this morning, “I have something to confess.”

“It’s okay, go ahead,” the younger encouraged, sensing his friend’s hesitancy.

“My parents… they… they’re not in a good place at the moment,” Jisung admitted, his voice weak and feeble as he fiddled with the strings on the hoodie Jeongin had given him to wear, “They haven’t been for a few months now.”

“Oh, Jisu-”

“No, let me explain everything before you say anything,” the older interrupted, to which Jeongin nodded and sat quietly waiting for his friend to continue. “I started noticing it at the beginning of high school, I’m not sure how long it’s been going on though. But I… I pretended like I didn’t know it was happening and forced a smile on my face every day as I watched their relationship deteriorate.”

“I’m such a coward, all I do is run away from the problem,” Jisung scoffed before continuing once again, “You probably noticed I never invite you round anymore - it’s because I was so scared of you noticing or asking questions about what was happening.”

“You know you didn’t need to be, right?” Jeongin assured him, laying his hand on Jisung’s knee, rubbing it soothingly.

“My heart knows that, but you know what my mind is like Innie. I can’t help it,” the older stated disheartenedly, “Anyway, last weekend one thing lead to another and Minho ended up at my house. It was fine, my parents weren’t home and we had fun like we normally did.”

“But then?”

“My parents came home arguing. Minho heard it all and I tried to get him out as fast as I could but he insisted on asking questions,” Jisung explained, a fond smile coming over him as he remembered how touched he felt at Minho’s words before everything had gone downhill. “I actually talked to him about it. Not in detail but what I felt comfortable telling him.”

“It was good, it felt so nice to tell someone but it was soon ruined,” he continued, the smile leaving his face, “He asked about when he first met me, you know when I got rejected and had one of my attacks? Well, that was fine but after I told him I got rejected he became so fixated on setting me up with someone new.”

“Really?” Jeongin exclaimed, not expecting Minho to do something like that.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t drop the topic. And I just got so mad I ended up confessing. But that’s not what you want to know,” Jisung quickly moved on to the point of this whole story was, “This morning, my mum asked me to come down for breakfast because I hadn’t really left my room the past few days. It didn’t take long for them to start arguing again.”

“Something just came over me. Maybe it was the conversation I had with Minho, maybe it was because I had so much on my mind or maybe it was because I haven’t been sleeping well these past few days but I yelled at them,” Jisung confessed. As he remembered the morning he couldn’t suppress the guilt he felt when seeing his parents’ shocked expressions after what he had done. “I just shouted that I was sick of everything and ran out of the house. The next thing I remember is seeing you.”

“Jisungie,” Jeongin cried out, enveloping his friend in a hug for the hundredth time that day, “I wish I could’ve been there for you during all of this.”

“It’s not your fault Innie,” Jisung confirmed as he squeezed his adorable best friend back, “It’s my fault for not telling you.”

“Still, I should’ve realised something was wrong,” Jeongin remarked, breaking the hug and starting to think about what to do next. “Okay, Jisung we’re going to go through all this one step at a time.”

“Okay,” Jisung braced himself, holding his best friends hands for comfort.

“First of all, don’t ever say you want to disappear again,” Jeongin said, a hint of anger in his voice, “You mean so much to me and so many other people and no matter what happens you’re strong enough to get through anything. So please don’t ever think that way again.”

“I-”

“Or at least if you do, let me know. I promise I’ll always be there to listen to you and if you need a shoulder to lean on, okay?”

“Okay,” Jisung agreed, a small smile overcoming his features.

“Now, let’s start with your parents. They’re probably really worried about you, no matter what they did or what you did, you should go back home tomorrow. You can work everything out from there,” Jeongin spoke clearly and calmly, hoping it would be some use to his friend.

“But-”

“No buts!” Jeongin interjected defiantly, “I know you’re scared Jisung and that’s okay. But you need to face it eventually and the longer you wait the worse it’s going to get.”

“Fine, I’ll talk to them, I know you’re right…” Jisung muttered admitting defeat.

“Of course I am,” Jeongin joked, bringing some light heartedness back into the room. “Should we talk about Minho now?”

“Yes,” Jisung agreed confidently, nodding his head as he spoke, “But I need more than just ‘talk to him’.”

“Well, I’ve got nothing then,” he said sarcastically, giggling with Jisung before continuing, “Okay, let me ask this first. Why exactly do you not want to confront him?”

Of course, Jisung knew why, it wasn’t because he was scared of being rejected. He could handle that - the pain that would eventually fade and just become a distant memory. What he couldn’t deal with is how this would affect the friendship they had.

“It’s just… he means a lot to me,” Jisung began slowly - thinking through each word, “I don’t want to lose him because of my stupid feelings.”

After Jisung ended his sentence Jeongin scoffed - gaining a slightly offended look from the older. However, immediately Jeongin was waving him off implying it was meant in a hostile way.

“Sorry, it’s just there’s no way you could lose him Jisungie. Take it from an outsider of your relationship - he cares about you just as much as you care about him,” Jeongin explained, “Plus, why are you so sure he’d not feel the same?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Why would he like someone like me?” Jisung answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Immediately, Jisung could see his best friend was about to defend him so he quickly cut him off, “It’s not just that. I literally confessed because he was trying to set me up with someone else… I don’t even know if he likes guys!”

The younger seemed to take in Jisung’s words for a few moments, contemplating before coming up with a response - a newfound confidence present in his eyes.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” 

He would help his best friend no matter what.

-

[Group Chat: Stray Kids]  
Jeongin: Hey guys, can we do something Sunday?  
Felix: Jeongin!!!  
Felix: you werent in today, are you okay?  
Jeongin: Im fine, sorry to worry you  
Jeongin: But Sunday?  
Felix: I’m down!  
Changbin: me too  
Chan: sorry Jeongin, me and Woo are hanging out  
Felix: I knew this would happen when he got a boyfriend TT  
Chan: Felix we hang out all the time  
Felix: dont talk to me you traitor  
Jeongin: Chan this is really important, can’t you reschedule?  
Woojin: Channie why doesn’t everyone just come round and you can stay after everyone leaves?  
Chan: I’m okay with that ^^  
Jeongin: Thank you!!  
Changbin: whipped  
Chan: Hey!!  
Seungmin: Guess I’ll be there, as it’s my house too.  
Seungmin: Hyunjin’s busy though  
Jeongin: That’s okay  
Jeongin: It’s probably for the better  
Felix: Is Jisung coming?!  
Felix: I missed him TT  
Jeongin: Minho?  
Jeongin: I know you’re reading the chat  
Minho: ...  
Minho: is Jisung really coming?  
Jeongin: he is

[End of Group Chat]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note here to say that in this story Jisung's mental state is obviously very toxic and I just wanted to say if you ever relate to any of these moments where his mental state is not the best please talk to someone. Your feelings are never a burden and there will be someone who listens to you - and if there isn't it's a problem with them not you.
> 
> Also remember to wash your hands and stay safe <3


	10. 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit worried about this chapter so I really hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Also happy 1st anniversary of SKZ' first win <3
> 
> Disclaimer: Everything written here is completely unrelated to the real Stray Kids members ^^

“You ready Jisungie?” Jeongin questioned the older as they walked up the drive to Woojin and Seungmin’s house. It had been Jeongin’s idea to gather everyone under the pretense of a usual hangout - giving Jisung the opportunity to slip out and talk with Minho to finally fix everything (no matter the result). He thought this would be the best way to go about it because if necessary Jeongin would be there to make an excuse for them if Jisung felt too overwhelmed again.

“I think so,” Jisung answered hesitantly, staring at the ground as they reached the door. Suddenly, he felt the weight of Jeongin’s hand on his shoulder causing him to meet the younger’s eyes.

“No matter what, everything will be okay. Don’t worry.” The brief moment of contact and his friend’s words did a lot to calm the ball of nerves and anxiety that was swirling around inside of him. Jisung returned them with a nod before turning to the door and ringing the doorbell.

Jeongin was right. Jisung knew he was but it didn’t help to still the absolute terror that was slowly filling every inch of his body as every second passed getting closer to the inevitable. Nonetheless, he was going to have this all settled today - he had made this promise to Jeongin and, more importantly, himself that he wouldn’t run away anymore.

-

Of course, due to Jeongin’s need to arrive much earlier than the agreed meeting time, Jeongin and Jisung were the first to arrive - other than those who lived there of course. Upon arriving, Woojin brought them into the living room and then roped Jeongin in to helping him in the kitchen leaving Jisung to his own thoughts (which was never a good thing to do for too long).

Luckily, Seungmin soon entered and greeted him.

“Hi Jisung.”

“Hey,” Jisung replied nervously, for several reasons but the main one being he had basically completely disappeared for the past week with no explanation and he wasn’t sure how to explain it. Seungmin paid it no mind though, either choosing to ignore it or not noticing at all, as he sat down next to him.

“You feeling alright now?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just had some stuff going on,” Jisung replied, moving his hand to fiddle with the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck.

“Ah, okay.”

The two sat in an awkward silence - nervously shuffling and trying to avoid looking at each other until Seungmin finally broke the silence.

“You know,” he began slowly, “We may not be as close as everyone else but I was worried about you.”

“Really?” Jisung couldn’t help but be surprised at the younger’s sudden confession. Even though if the roles were reversed Jisung would be worried for Seungmin as well, he never thought he had that much significance in his life to be worried about for simply missing a few days of school.

“Of course, everyone was. It would’ve been nice to hear from you just to know you were alright…” It was obvious Seungmin felt a little out of place being so honest about his concerns but he continued anyway - a defiance evident in his tone. “And you know if you ever needed to you could talk to me about anything, right?”

Honestly, Jisung had never considered trying to rely on anyone until this past week - and even now the thought seemed foreign to him. Everyone who he had until this point, he had relied on them due to the circumstances - being cornered into a place where he was at his limit or had no choice too. Even though when he had done so it had always relieved him, because he had never done so willingly the thought of talking to anyone other than Jeongin, Minho or Felix had never crossed his mind.

Now that he really thought about it though, it seemed nice to talk to someone like Seungmin. He had always been nice to Jisung ever since they met - even if his best friend wasn’t the same - and he had always shown concern for Jisung in the past. So, there wouldn’t be any harm in relying on Seungmin just a little bit, right?

“I… I was running away,” Jisung explained suddenly - voice quiet and hesitant, “I always have been to be honest. When things get hard I always run away because I’m scared of being hurt but today I’m here because I finally want to face everything.”

Jisung felt a small pat on his shoulder and the focus of his gaze switched from where he was staring intently at his hands nervously fidgeting to meet Seungmin’s eyes.

“I think everyone’s scared of being hurt to be honest but the fact you’re facing it is really admirable and you should be proud of yourself,” he said sincerely - a small, reassuing smile finding it’s way to his face. Jisung couldn’t help but return it and, even if it was just a little bit, he felt like a small weight was lifted from his body.

“You’re right,” Jisung responded, laughing a little bit even if he wasn’t sure exactly what he was laughing about. Maybe his own foolishness or at the fact everything felt a little easier just from this short conversation. 

“And if you ever find it too much to handle, you can always come unload to me from now on, okay?”

“Okay, I will” Jisung responded genuinely. Not a fake answer to satisfy someone else but a truthful answer that he had faith in and was completely for his own benefit. “Thank you, Seungmin. Really.”

Seungmin just returned it with a slight nod, a larger smile overtaking his features.

“Hey Jisung, this isn’t really the right time to say this but…” Seungmin began indecisively, but continued when Jisung gestured for him to go ahead, “This conversation made me realise that you and Hyunjin are more similar than you think.”

“Just when we were finally getting closer,” Jisung joked playfully, unable to hide the little sprinkle of truth hidden within the sentence.

“I know you don’t get along but… he’s running away too. It’s not my place to tell you and I also don’t think I have the right to say this considering he’s the one that’s treated you badly but maybe you could give him a chance?” he questioned. “He doesn’t really hate you… his emotions are just misplaced.”

It was true he never really felt actual hatred from Hyunjin, and to be honest they haven’t really cared for each other in several months. However, Jisung couldn’t help but think of this one question.

“Why now?”

“I just feel like you’d be good for each other,” Seungmin admitted, “I’m worried for him, and for you too of course. I don’t want you guys to get along immediately or be best friends but if you could try to be nice to him I’d appreciate it.”

“But he’s the one-”

“I know, I know,” Seungmin interjected, “Sorry Jisung. You’re dealing with your own issues and I’m pushing this on you - but I really think this would be good for both of you.”

Jisung nibbled on his lip gently as he thought about what Seungmin had suggested. It wasn’t outrageous, in reality it was just being a decent human being. More than that though, it wasn’t as if he had any malicious intent and seeing Seungmin care so much for his best friend was actually quite endearing.

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Jisung asked teasingly, a smile returning to his face as he watched Seungmin nervously avert his gaze and nod his head slightly.

“Yeah… I do.”

“I’ll think about it Seungmin,” Jisung replied, causing Seungmin to shoot his head up and a smile to return to his face.

“Thank you, that already means more than enough.”

-

“Okay, looks like everyone’s here,” Woojin announced as he walked in after Felix and Changbin who had arrived together, “Do you guys want to watch a movie?”

“Everyone?” Jisung questioned, he looked around the room just in case he had missed the person he was looking for entering. There was Chan, next to him was Felix and Changbin, then of course Woojin followed by Seungmin then Jeongin and finally himself. “Where’s Minho?”

“He let me know earlier he wouldn’t be coming,” Woojin explained. At those words, Jisung obviously deflated - his mood souring in an instant. Noticing this, Woojin tried to give more detail, “He said he already had something to do though. He probably wouldn’t have come no matter the situation.”

“Ah he’s probably at the usual place then,” Chan thought out loud - an attempt to further back up what Woojin was saying.

“Usual place?” Jeongin repeated curiously.

“Yeah, I showed Jisung the other week. He performs in town when he can,” Felix clarified, keeping his eyes on Jisung as he answered.

Everyone in the room knew that something had gone on between Jisung and Minho, it was obvious from how Jisung was acting and how Minho would constantly ask about him whether it was in school or on the group chat. However, Felix was the only one (other than Jeongin) who actually had a good idea of what the current situation was.

“You know, he’s probably still there,” the blonde stated as he looked at the time on his phone.

“If you left now you’d probably be able to catch him…” Chan pointed out, picking up what the younger Aussie was trying to insinuate.

Obviously, Jisung knew these comments were directed to him - it would be impossible not to when everyone was staring at him with a mixture of sympathy and determination. In the past this type of situation may have made him feel awkward or uncomfortable but in this moment it gave him some strength.

He wasn’t honestly sure about what was happening. Even if he left now there’s no guarantee Jisung will make it in time. In actuality, there’s no guarantee Minho is actually there. Leaving meant facing what he had to tell Minho completely alone: without the support of his best friend to be there when it all went wrong.

But, Jisung had decided he wouldn’t run away anymore.

“I’m…” the brunette began slowly, processing exactly what he was about to announce and do after that before standing up with a newfound sense of conviction, “I’m going to go to Minho.”

WIthout missing another heartbeat, he left the Kim’s house with a chorus of encouraging cheers behind him as he gave a rushed goodbye to everyone and ran to the closest bus stop.

He didn’t know how much time was passing, he wasn’t even completely aware of all the emotions that were passing through his head as he got on the bus and headed towards the town, but he did know the one thought that kept passing through his head. 

Minho.

He wanted to see him again. 

He wanted to speak to him again. 

He wanted everything to be okay again.

-

Once the bus had arrived, Jisung didn’t waste any time heading straight to where Felix had brought him to see Minho performing last time. Hoping he was in the exact same place (in the rush he hadn’t considered asking if he changed locations). Fortunately, it didn’t matter.

As he got closer to the destination he could hear the whisperings of an EDM track grow louder and a crowd of people appeared in his vision. He slowed down as the distance shortened, taking the time to catch his breath as he realised the only thing that was separating him and the person he had confessed to a week prior was just a few rows of people.

Jisung found a spot where he could see through the gaps of the people without being too close and just allowed himself to watch the remaining performances Minho was putting on. Patiently waiting for him to finish while admiring truly how beautiful the man he had fallen for was.

It didn’t take long for Minho to finish his show, only performing a couple songs since Jisung had arrived.

“As always, thank you all for watching! And thank you for the generous donations!” Minho exclaimed to the crowd before giving a final bow and moving to pack his stuff.

As the crowd dispersed, Jisung continued to watch, an irrational sense of fear suddenly washing over him once again.

It was ridiculous really, up until a few moments ago Jisung was full of confidence and determination but now that he’s actually in a situation where he’s able to do exactly what he wants to: he freezes up.

Lost in his own thoughts, Minho had already finished greeting any members of the crowd that wanted to talk with him and packing up his stuff. Noticing this, Jisung hurriedly went to follow the older.

Jisung didn’t really realise how long he was following Minho for, not realising his borderline stalking actions as he was so fixated on figuring out when it would be best to call out for him. However, it was enough time for Minho to reach a shop and go in to buy something quickly before heading off in a different direction. Once again, Jisung trailing after the older trying to build up the courage to do what he came here to do.

Eventually, Minho went down a slightly rough looking alleyway. Not wanting to be noticed, Jisung stayed at the entrance wondering what his crush could possibly be doing in such a place.

“Soonie, Doongie, Dori,” Minho called out softly, squatting down and rummaging in the plastic bag full of whatever he had bought in the store before and revealing a can of cat food which he opened swiftly.

At the opening of the can, Jisung could hear the gentle cries of some cats that had now appeared at Minho’s side.

“People were extra generous today so I was able to buy you guys the better quality food,” Minho stated excitedly, stroking the 3 cats Jisung presumed to be Soonie Doongie and Dori.

Jisung couldn’t help but melt at the sight - he knew Minho was an animal lover much like himself but hearing that and seeing it happen in front of him were two completely different things.

“Cute,” Jisung said unknowingly, lost in the moment and forgetting his current situation. Hearing the boy’s exclamation, Minho turned round and met eyes with a now frantic Jisung.

“Jisung?” Minho questioned, obviously confused about why or how Jisung was there in front of him.

“Hi,” the younger greeted cautiously, laughing slightly and moving his hand to play with his hair as he often did when he was nervous. 

He moved forward to close the distance between the two - completely missing the abandoned box in front of him and hitting his leg into it. Doing so caused the box (and the contents within it) to topple over, scaring the cats away and making Jisung want to curl in on himself.

“Ah…” Minho exhaled, a hopeless attempt to call after the cats that were now sprinting in the opposite direction. He already knew they wouldn’t be coming back.

“Sorry,” Jisung apologised.

“It’s okay,” Minho assures him.

They fall into a silence, both looking at the floor where their feet stood and fidgeting nervously. As they were in the outskirts of the town, the only noise was the distant ruckus of consumers - the majority on their way home due to the time of the day.

Minho was right there, so why wasn’t Jisung able to say anything? It should be so simple but why was it so hard?

Eventually, after what felt like hours of nothing but awkward glances to the other, Minho was the first person to break the silence.

“Are you okay?” Minho asked hesitantly, “I was really worried about you.”

Finally, Jisung met Minho’s eyes and he was so glad he did. It had only been a week but he really missed Minho and those beautiful sparkling eyes of his that held so much emotion - although he wasn’t sure he wanted to interpret the current emotion they were displaying.

“I’m okay…” Jisung answers. He thinks it over for a few seconds before retracting what he said, “Actually, that’s a lie.”

Minho looked like he wanted to run over and give the younger a hug as soon as he heard those words but something was holding him back - something that Jisung couldn’t place and it terrified him. Nonetheless, Jisung had started this and he was definitely going to finish it.

“Minho, I’m so tired of running away,” Jisung confessed, a weight as heavy as the Earth lifting off his shoulders as soon as the words left escaped his lips, “I’ve been avoiding you. I was scared, like I always am, and I did what I always do. I ran away.”

“Ji-”

“No, let me finish,” Jisung interrupted, “I was running away but today I decided to face my problems - face my emotions. So yes, Lee Minho, I like you.”

For a few seconds the younger paused, letting the older process what he had just said, before rambling everything he was holding back this past week.

“I like you and I was scared that it would ruin our friendship. I care about you so much and I couldn’t bear if the reason we wouldn’t be able to act how we always did - the reason you couldn’t be by my side anymore - was because of my feelings but I guess I ruined it all on my own. I didn’t mean to confess that day. It just came out and still to this moment I regret it but I’ve decided I’m going to face it.”

Jisung broke eye contact for several seconds as he took a deep breath and readied himself for what he was about to invite upon himself.

“I don’t want my feelings to come in between us so even though you don’t feel the same way, I’d appreciate it if we could stay as we always have.”

“But Jisung-”

“I know it’s a lot to ask but I-”

“Jisung!” Minho shouted so he could finally take control of the conversation and say what he wanted to say, “I don’t want to stay the same.”

“What?” Jisung asked meekly, his biggest fears becoming a reality. He was really about to lose Minho just because he couldn’t control his emotions.

“I don’t want to stay the same with you,” Minho began slowly, “because I like you too.”

“You what?”

“I like you too, you idiot,” Minho repeated playfully.

“But before, you were trying to set me up with someone else?” Jisung questioned - completely baffled at what was happening. He thought there was no way Minho returned his feelings for him because Minho was kind and sweet and wonderful and cute and hot and charming and amazing but Jisung was… just Jisung.

“That’s because a week ago I didn’t care about being with you - I just wanted you to be happy,” Minho explained carefully, “I thought I would be a burden to you, so even just being by your side even if it was platonically was enough for me.”

A part of Jisung wanted to assure Minho that he would never be a burden to him and anyone would be lucky to be with him (especially himself) but the other part realised how horribly ironic and hypocritical that would be. He couldn’t believe how similar their emotions were.

“What changed then? Was it because I confessed?” Jisung asked curiously.

“That’s part of it but…” Minho took a deep breath as he took a step closer to the younger and gently took one of Jisung’s hands in his own, “This past week I was so worried about you. I wanted to be there for you and help you through all of your emotions and insecurities. I realised I don’t think I could’ve just watched you be with someone else because I wanted to be that someone.”

“To be honest I still think I’ll be a burden to you,” he continued, “But since you’re facing your feelings I want to as well.”

“Minho you would never be a burden to me,” Jisung insisted, “I always thought I would be the burden on you.”

Minho looked like he was about to interrupt but Jisung didn’t let him.

“Instead of being each other’s burden,” Jisung began, taking Minho’s other hand and staring into his eyes with all the sincerity he could muster, “We could be each other’s comfort. Our breath of fresh air when our minds are polluted with negative thoughts and emotions.”

“That sounds nice,” Minho agreed, a smile overtaking his face which naturally Jisung reciprocated. “Are you sure you like me?”

“I should be asking you that,” Jisung scoffed, “Yes I do.”

“Are you okay dealing with my insistent whining and need for constant affection?”

“Only if you can deal with mine.”

The two just laughed together then stood in silence taking in the moment. Unlike their awkward silence from earlier, this was a pleasant silence that made Jisung finally feel like everything was over. Or at least that everything was getting better.

It’s funny how this conversation went somewhere Jisung’s mind never imagined it going. Not because what had just happened was actually impossible but because that’s what his mind has labelled it to be. After what felt like a never ending battle between himself and his emotions, he could relax a little bit.

“So…” Minho began.

“So,” Jisung repeated.

“Han Jisung.”

“Yes, Lee Minho?”

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

And never in a million years would he have thought that this conversation would end with Minho asking him to be his boyfriend.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally got together T-T
> 
> But we're only halfway done with this fic...  
I wish I could promise pure fluff but...
> 
> :)
> 
> Hope you're all staying safe! Remember to wash your hands and only go out when essential!!


	11. Announcement!

Hi all! This is just a quick announcement to say this fic will be on a hiatus for about a month and a half.

There's a few reasons for this but I thought this was a good stopping part as the main couple have gotten together so there's no cliffhangers or anything like that at this point. But after this hiatus there should (hopefully) not be another for the rest of this fic~~

Sorry for the long hiatus but it's a little unavoidable T-T  
(also I may be posting some oneshots if I get random bursts of inspiration in the middle of the night haha)


End file.
